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F ANKWEI; 



OR 



THE SAN JACINTO IN THE SEAS 



OF 



INDIA, CHINA AND JAPAN 



BY 



WILLIAM MAXWELL WOOD, M. D., IJ. S. K, 

LATE STJEGEON OF THE FLEET TO THE UNITED STATES EAST INDIA SQUADEON '. 

AUTHOK OF " WANDERINO- SKETCHES IN SOUTH AMERICA, POLYNESIA," 

ETC.; "a SHOULDER TO THE "WHEEL OF PROGRESS," ETC. 




NEW YOKK: 
HARPER & BR O T H E R S, 

FEANKLIN SQUARE. 



1859. 



- \, 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S59, by 

HAEPEK & BROTHERS, 

In the Clerk's Office, of the District Court, for the Southern District of 

New York. 






TO 



THE HON. THOMAS CAESON, 

OF MEEOEESBITEGH, PENNSYLVANIA, 

This Ijook was dedicated in life, as an offering of respect for one of wliom the 
following has been publicly said : 

" His sterling integrity and uniform fidelity to all official duties intrusted to 
him, stamp him as one of the few public men in our commonwealth who are proof 
against all the seductive influences of public life. 

" One whose large abilities and clear perceptions are overshadowed by his mod- 
est demeanor and freedom from the arts of the popular politician." 

Under that more noble title which he won amongst men, and which will serve 
him better in the world " of the hereafter" to which he has passed, it is now in- 
scribed to the memory of 

"HONEST TOM CARSON." 



A FEW FIRST WORDS WITH THE READER. 



The sunsets on our great lakes are peculiarly beautiful, and 
scarcely a bright day closes into eyening without attracting admi- 
ration by its varied pictures of colored and gilded cloud-scenes. 
As I have looked upon them with a group of friends, each one 
beholds scenes unnoticed or unrecognized by others. Some see 
human figures in forms which are to others those of grotesque 
animals ; and what to one may be burning cities or embattled 
armies, is to another but a confused and unmeaning cloud mass. 

Thus do we all see differently what has the same external form, 
and hence a reason for writing many books upon even frequently- 
described countries and peoples. It is not the ground over which 
the traveler goes which alone appears in his book, but the indi- 
viduality of him who observes it. Each prismatic observer pre- 
sents his own colored ray to make up the clear beam of truth ; 
and no aggregate description of multiplied observers will make 
foreign nations accurately acquainted with each other, even when 
in close proximity, or derived from the same stock. 

There is, then, room for my gatherings from the remote regions 
respecting which I write, and I am conscious they will not be 
missed fi:om the vast mass left for other observers and future 
years. 

In addition to this justification for presenting the pubhc with 
the present volume, I have been for thirty years by necessity of 
position an observer in an important national institution, with its 
own peculiar usages and internal pohtics. It has been my convic- 
tion, from an early period, that this institution, in its organic struc- 
ture, was not in harmony with our national character; not a 
natural emanation from it, but a graft from a morbid outgrowth 
of systems we have rejected as wrong in themselves or inappli- 
cable to us. The only reform which has yet taken place in the 



VI A FEW FIKST WOEDS WITH THE KEADEE. 

Navy has been the spasmodic relief of a temporary and press- 
ing necessity. No active principle of a self-acting and permanent 
character has yet been introduced. Conservatism, which in gen- 
eral society is but a healthy regulator of progress, becomes, in a 
Hmited military institution, an institution of rules and precedents, 
an immovable and enormous mass of dead weight ; and it is not 
surprising that the individual representatives of this quaHty should 
think that reform was sending the whole Navy to that being who 
was so early and so effectively busy in Eden, and who may per- 
haps be found in our estabhshment, especially if he is correctly 
described as one 

" On whose nature 

Nurture can never stick ; on whom all pains 

Humanely taken, all, all quite lost ; 

And as with age his body uglier grows, 

So his mind cankers." 

As one party is so desirous of keeping the Navy from going to 
him, and the other of getting him out of it, there is hope that so 
wholesome a rivalry, shared equally by each, will secure his final 
discomfiture. 

Most of the time of these travels was among that people who, 
claiming to be Celestial themselves, regard every Western as a 
Fankwei, or '' foreign devil." 

As Fankwei and Celestial we saw each other, and as Fankwei 
I tell the story. 



CONTENTS. 



4"«~» 

PAGE 

Dedication ^^ 

A Few First Words with the Eeader v 



THE TOTAGE OUT. 

I. — On Board and Off H 

II.— Cloth 1^ 

III.— Slush ^^ 

lA 

36 



lY.— Madeira 2t 

Y.— Wine 

YI. — Cinders and Lava ^^ 

YIL_Water ^'^ 



YIII.— SmoN's Bat. 



69 



IX.— Wine and Welcome 8t 

X.— Mauritius ^^ 

XL— Ceylon 104 

XII. — ^The G-em of the Indies 122 

Xin.— Singapore 1^2 



SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

XIY — ^Kingdom of the White Elephant 149 

XY. — The White Elephant at Home 159 

XYI. — Siamese and Christian Nobles 185 

XYII. — ^Diplomacy Inaugurated 19'7 



XYIIL— Buddhism . 



222 



XIX. — ^Diplomacy ; the Harem in the Hall 229 

XX. — ^RoYAL Siamese Literature.. 245 

-An Uncommon Commoner., 254 



Vm . CONTENTS. 



IN CHINA. 

PAGE 

XXIL— Hong Kong 263 

XXin. — Canton, the City of Rams 273 

XXIY. — Macao, the City of Camoens 287 

XXV.— A Look at Japan 295 

XXYI— Shanghae 320 

XXVIL— Shanghae 331 

XXVIII. — Marriage and Funeral Debate 351 

XXIX.— Sik-A-Wa 359 

XXX.— Sedan Chairs 365 

XXXI. — The American Eagle in Shanghae 311 

XXXII. — Soo-CHAU, the Paris of China 383 

XXXIII.— Battle and Blood 415 

XXXIV. — Pen, Pencil and Powder 435 

XXXV.— Ruined Castles 456 

XXXVI.— The Reign of Terror 469 

XXXVIL— The Heavenly Prince 509 

XXXVIII. — Commerce, Christianity and Opium 518 

XXXIX.— aETTiNG On 529 



F AN K WEI. 



I. 



THE VOYAGE OUT, 



THE VOYAGE OUT. 



I. 

ON BOARD AND OFF. 

It was a murky October evening as my friend and I 
stood at tlie foot of that great thoroughfare, which is at 
once the pride and the nuisance of ISTew York. Our part- 
ing words were spoken to the sulky dashing of the waves 
against the shores of the " Battery." 

"A pleasant cruise — an interesting cruise — you are 
going to have," were his words as we shook hands and 
said " Good-bye." 

A pleasant cruise ! an interesting cruise ! They were 
soft-sounding words, but it was the vinegar upon niter — 
the singing of songs to a heavy heart. 

He might well have music upon his tongue, for he 
turned to walk up that broad, bright avenue, whose 
myriad lights were just beginning to blaze upon the in- 
creasing darkness, and his day would close amid the en- 
dearments of home. But I, with a number of small 
parcels, the last gatherings of conveniences for shipboard 
existence, stepped into a small boat, and with a few 
strokes of the boatman's oars, we shot out upon the dark 
waters, and I had left the shores of my country at best 
for years. "We glided through the ships, heaving and 



12 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

rolling at their moorings, and in a few minutes I and my 
bundles were passed up the sides of a clumsy, black-look- 
ing vessel, with a smoke stack protruding from the deck, 
and guns projecting from her sides. 

It was once more a shivering plunge into the ceremo- 
nies, the restrictions, the petty formalities, and mole-hill 
mountain jealousies and privileges — to say nothing of the 
physical i3rivations — of man-of-war life. If I tell the 
reader what these are, it is not to weary him with un- 
happy comj)laints ; but to deal justly by him, and to pre- 
sent him, in this narrative, not only Avith the scenes before 
my eyes, but also with the spirit which looked out upon 
them, and to show, I hope, for the good of those who 
come after me, how many gratuitous annoyances are 
added to those necessarily incident to a naval life. 

To aj^preciate to the full this unnatural existence, one 
must have a nature which leads him from even the splen- 
did trammels of city life, must have formed many of his 
habits in the freedom of a frontier residence, and learned 
to love his country, not alone because it wasjiis country, 
but because of his close communion with its inmost nature. 
He must have courted that nature's varying forms, and 
true to its beauty alone, have been won by the attractions 
of each new season from any regrets for the enjoyments 
of that passing away. Welcoming the bursting life and 
budding blossoms of spring, he yields their fresh fra- 
grance, to wander, with riper affections, amid summer 
heats, by babbling brooks, in deep forest shades, or over 
fields golden in the setting sun ; — and wished no change 
until his eye caught the first crimsoning of autumn's 
gorgeous garment, fluttering on the forest's edge. Satia- 
ted with rich luxuriance and brilliant hues, he reposes in 
the soft languor of an Indian summer's haze, until, in 
the bracing air of a northern sky, brightly arching over 
the snow-clad earth, in the sleep of nature, human ener- 



ON BOARD AND OFF. 13 

gies and activities spring into new life and vigor. The 
crashing forest falls beneath the woodman's ax ; the full 
contents of barns and granaries glide on smooth runners, 
cumbrously silent, over the frozen roads ; while the jing- 
ling bells of sleighs dashing over the crisping snow are 
in harmony with all this life and motion. 

With evening comes the gathering from the sports 
and labors of the short day ; the social union of friend 
and neighbor, with all those heart-interests and affections 
which cluster around the winter evening's fireside. 

" What should gUd the wheat in harvest, 
If the spring endured forever ? 
How should apples in the garden 
Eipen were it always summer ? 
How should wheat sheaf be up-gathered 
If there were no time but autumn ?" 

From these memories, vividly recalled, the transition 
was to oakum and bilge water; to my room, dark, 
cramped and dreary; six feet square, broken upon by 
crooked ship-knees and heavy beams. Permissions to go 
and orders to come, given by strange men younger than 
myself, whom I never saw before ; my light at mid-day 
an allowanced candle, and that blown out at ten o'clock 
at night by an humble ship official, whether I would or 
no. A booming gun and the reveille of a rolling drum 
awake me at daylight, and the same sounds tattoo the 
closing day. 

The day lowered in congenial gloom, the wind moaned 
and sighed through the rigging ; a cold, drizzling rain of 
October 24, 1855, baptized my first day on board the 
United States steam frigate San Jacinto— the beginning 
of from two to three years of such an existence. 

I sat in my state-room. It was the Surgeon's room — 
the fourth one — the last but one back on the port side. 



14 ^ THE VOYAGE OUT. 

The Chief Engineer, the Master, the Purser, were all 
ahead of me, although in age and service I was by much 
the oldest officer in that mess ; and, except the command- 
er-in-chief, the oldest in age in the ship. At this time I am 
in my thirtieth year of service ; and twenty-nine years ago, 
as acting surgeon of a sloop-of-war, I inhabited the same 
relative cell. Time and service had brought no change of 
position, of privileges, of j)hysical comfort in my shipboard 
life. I was worse off: then there were youth and hope to 
buoy me over annoyances, and my companions were of 
congenial years ; now I was alone. Those of my original 
associates who were left — and they were but few — as cap- 
tains and commodores were separated from me by duties, 
rank and distant stations. Of the occupants of the nine 
state-rooms besides my own, all, save one, were strangers 
to me. The difficulty of forming social intimacies in- 
creases with years ; and I could not expect the tastes, 
sympathies or conversation of those eo much younger 
than myself, to accord with my own. I had now the 
high sounding title of the " Surgeon of the Fleet," with 
its real duties and responsibilities, but this was simply a 
gilded cap upon my head, while I was left shivering in 
the tatters of the old garments of my youth and more 
humble position. 

Our ship was filled with boxes of presents for the 
King of Siam. Immense mirrors, large chandeliers, 
clocks, and various other articles, show that we have 
some designs upon the good will of their Siamese majes- 
ties. 

On the following morning the outside world brightened 
up a little ; and it was a fine, cold, clear October morn- 
ing, when we passed out to sea through all the beauties 
of the harbor of New York. Our first port is a dead 
secret ; because, if we all knew that, the commanding 
officers would be no wiser than ourselves, and the pro- 



ON BOARD AND OFF. 15 

found humbug of mysteries would be lost to our won- 
der. This much we do know, that we are to go to Pulo 
Pinang, m the Straits of Malacca, and take on board the 
Hon. Townsend Harris, CodsuI General to Japan. 

At our first Sunday morning muster we had read to us 
the articles of war in all their thundering terrors, and the 
ever recurring penalty which closes so many offenses : 
"Death, or such other punishment as a court martial 
shall adjudge " — the bullet and the halter. 

There seems to be among us a strange overlooking, 
or inconsistent view of human nature, or Kavy nature is 
not human nature. In the first place, there is an expecta- 
tion that every one who goes on board of a mau-of war 
is to hold all sorts of death — hanging, shooting or drown- 
ing — in utter contempt. Indeed, he is to seek them as 
the natural end of existence, and to be hung or shot for 
avoiding them ; and yet these are the official threats. 

" To liaud the wretch in order." 

And once a month, on sacred Sabbath mornings, they 
are ferociously shaken over our heads, begetting no 
other feelings than contempt or defiance. 

The assembled wisdom of the nation, by slow and 
painful processes, got a kind of inkhng that terror and 
threats were not the most expedient means of governing 
the American seaman ; and they devised a code which, 
in pay, privileges and honorable testimonies, offers a re- 
ward for fidelity and obedience. But this ray of sun- 
shine was not permitted to gleam through the cloud of 
the death penalty and the gloom of the articles of war. 
It was a mistake. How many besides Chinese are be- 
fogged by " ola custom !" 



16 . THE VOYAGE OUT. 

II. 

CLOTH. 

On two successive Sundays we had first an undress and 
then a full-dress uniform muster. Our costume has been in- 
flicted upon us by some golden-fancied authority ; and de- 
\4sed by a rule of wide departure from the fitness of things. 
It is to be hoped that imprecations, as well as prayers of 
better significance, have their efficiency at least modified 
by the source from which they emanate ; otherwise I 
should fear much for those who perpetuate cocked hats 
and full-dress blue cloth coats lined with white silk and 
stiffened with embroidery. 

It was a busy scene in all our apartments on the Sun- 
day of that full-dress muster. Gold and glitter all about 
— ^hanging over the chairs and lying on the tables. Offi- 
cers and their servants busy in tying epaulets upon the 
shoulders of these same white-silk-lined, blue cloth, em- 
broidered coats ; buckling on swords, and giving the right 
swing to sword-knots, the accurate range to the sharp cor- 
ners of their cocked hats. An animated running commen- 
tary was kept up during these proceedings. 

" Twenty dollars for this thing, case and all !" said one, 
as he looked in the glass and gave his cocked hat a little 
twist, bringing it obliquely across his face. 

" And fifty dollars for this coat, to lie in my locker and 
blacken with bilge water. We wear them now to show 
that we have them ; and shall not perhaps use them again 
during the whole cruise." 

"Seventy dollars for hat and coat ; yes you may say a 
hundred sunk in things we shall never want," said a third. 

"It would lay in a whole outfit of shirts and stock- 
ings." 



CLOTH. 17 

" It would school a young lady for a year," said a pru- 
dent father. 

" It would buy an eighty acre lot," said a prospective 
farmer. 

But, my friends, this time the folly may be excusable. 
We are going to Siam — ^we are paraded against barbaric 
pomp and must outshme the Orientals. 

"All hands to muster, gentlemen," said a messenger 
boy ; and we proceeded to the deck, where the crew were 
already assembled in dark blue cloth. 

Guided by splendor of decoration, the eye, in mark- 
ing our distinctions, would first light upon the Com- 
mander of the Marines. I can not undertake to analyze 
the elegant amalgamation and blending of dark blue, of 
brilliant crimson, and dazzling decorations which made 
up his costume. The officers of the line — the Captam and 
Lieutenants — were bound in golden bands around collar 
and cufts ; the seams of their pantaloons being broadly 
striped with glittering lace. We of the staff — Engineer, 
Purser, Medical Officers — symboled the vigor and endur- 
ing vitality of our country by modest wreaths of the acorn 
and leaves of the live oak. The olive-branch and paddle 
wheel on the collars of the Engineers designated their 
special vocation and spoke of the peaceful progress of art 
and science. There were smaller lights whose twinkle 
was scarcely noticed in this golden blaze. 

" Stand in a Hne, gentlemen," said the First Lieutenant ; 
"the Captain wants to see that you are all right;" and 
the Captain marched slowly down the line scrutinizing 
our costume closely. We were pronounced " right ;" and 
the ceremony was over. 

If all that which is now but tawdry decoration had a 
purpose of practical utihty ; — if epaulets were steel plates 
to defend the shoulders from sword cuts, and crimson 
sashes were for stanching blood and bearing off the 



18 * THEVOYAGi:OUT. 

wounded — they might be in accordance with common 
senap. However, there is yet hope, even for Uniform 
Boards. The time was when they cuffed and caped me 
in sable velvet, and taj^ered me off in white small-clothes, 
and silk stockings, and gold knee and shoe-buckles. 

The inappropriate and expensive character of the uni- 
form of officers is, however, a small matter compared with 
the infliction of an unsightly and distasteful garb upon 
the crew — adding another to the unnecessary disgusts of 
public service. There are few things in which seamen are 
more tenacious than in the fitness of their costume ; and 
yet our authorities have imposed upon them a dress bur- 
lesque and unsightly, and so distasteful as to have excited 
general dissatisfaction. It consists in appending large 
white duck cuffs and collars to their blue flannel shirts. 

We had been at sea some time, when another muster 
of costume was ordered, to see if these sujDplements were 
ajDpended to the shirts. 

Of a supply of green turtle we had on board, all had 
gone but one burly reptile of about five hundred pounds' 
weight, belonging to the Commodore. This fellow lay 
conspicuously on one side of the deck, back uj) and flip- 
pers spread out. Silent, solemn, and sombre as he was, 
the first proclamation of dissatisfaction with the order 
came from this turtle. He was found one morning with 
a broad muslin collar tied around his throat and folded 
back upon his warty shell, and a broad cuff folded back 
on each fore-flipper. Kidiculous as he looked, in a short 
time the crew of the San Jacinto looked just as ridiculous. 
The muster came, and as we stepped upon deck, where 
all the crew were assembled, it was difficult to suppress a 
smile at their appearance. The expanse of white collar 
and cuffs, contrasted with their dark blue clothes, made 
each weather-beaten, knotted, gnarled, bearded head seem 
to emerge from a child's pinafore pinned behind. 



CLOTH. 19 

•' Jack," said one, " you look like you had stolen a 
sheep and was carrying it home, with its legs tied round 
your neck." 

" I feel just that way," replied Jack. 

" Our men look," said one of the Lieutenants to me, as 
he passed, with a suppressed smile, on the quarter deck, 
"as though they had been robbing a washerwoman's 
hedge of napkins and towels." 

It must be admitted that some of the men, to ridi- 
cule their unsightly dress, had enlarged the borders of 
their garments, and a few of these muslin mutineers were, 
after muster, arraigned for reproof; but the men had so 
much the sympathy of the officers that not much came of 
it. I never heard of any being punished. 

It seems impossible for the Navy to forgive Doctors for 
being at once respectable men and part of the naval ser- 
vice. But it must be admitted they deserve all they get. 
Any man who is so wanting in common sense as to be a 
doctor, and then, being worth any thing anywhere else, 
to enter the naval service, is guilty of such a violation of 
common discretion that he should be ever paying the 
appropriate penalty. It is too amusing to excite one's 
anger to notice the tenacity with which the " Line" of 
the N'avy adhere to any thing which they may imagine in 
any degree tends to humiliate their medical brethren. 

There was once upon a time, under the " old disci- 
pline," a regulation which said : " The Surgeon, or his 
assistant, must daily inspect the boilers and cooking uten- 
sils, in order that they may be kept perfectly clean. 
Their condition will be reported to the First Lieutenant." 

" When, in some by-gone days to which the memory 
of man does not reach, the cooking utensils may have 
been of copper, and supposed to generate poisons, which 
the eye of science only could discover, such a rule would 
have been justifiable. Even in such a case, ordinary 



20 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

household cleanliness, ascertainable by any one, would 
have been the remedy. But now that the whole appa- 
ratus is nothing but good wholesome iron, it with every 
propriety comes under the supervision of the police of the 
deck upon which the galley is placed ; and the disposition to 
impose the supervision upon the medical officers, as a spe- 
cialty, is only a manifestation of that illiberal spirit which 
would delight in degrading them to a scuUion's dnty."* 

The regulation upon this subject, after much dissatis- 
faction, defiance, and ridicule, fell into disuse, and was 
formally repealed by the Department, on the 24th of April, 
1848. A discreditable attempt was subsequently made 
to revive it. The efibrt of commanding officers to mi- 
nutely detail the duties of medical officers has always 
been a ridiculous failure ; because, in proportion to the 
detail, the commanding officer assumes the responsibility 
of the medical officer's conscience and sense of duty ; and 
he still has to leave every thing essential in his depart- 
ment to the skill, ability, and honor of that officer ; and 
if these are not sufficient to render him useful in his voca- 
tion, there is no power that can. 

Soon after getting to sea, the code of internal regula- 
tions was sent down to me, and the First Lieutenant es- 
pecially called my attention to the one of inspecting the 
ship's coppers. Of course it was expunged when I called 
attention to the fact that it had been repealed eight years 
before. 

But the United States is the only social paradise of 
doctors, and those who follow kindred humble and use- 
ful pursuits. They should always stay at home. This 
fact is the secret of the intense opposition which the line 
of the Navy has for so many years manifested toward any 
respectable rank and privileges being conferred upon 
their medical brethren. It is a historical fact that our 

* Editorial New York Times. 



CLOTH. 21 

Navy is not an outgrowth of our institutions, but of the 
British 'Nayj ; and except in a few very modern instances 
of spasmodic originality, has servilely copied it. Even 
the very uniform which the last board hatched, after a 
long incubation, is a literal copy of that then existing in 
the British service ; and, like Laban's goats, they stole 
their golden streaks from staring upon models before 
their eyes ; and as the stripes carried the goats of his 
father to Jacob, they bring vital vices from our paternal 
British fold to us. It is well known that doctors are not, 
in England, no more than mechanics or farmers, " first 
class people." They may be very respectable men ; but 
there are social grades into which they are not only not 
born, but to which as doctors they can never be elevated ; 
with which they never associate on an equal footing. 
Who ever heard of an English peer, or an English peer's 
youngest son, turning doctor ? The places in the naval 
service are kept for these men, who are excluded from 
humble, useful pursuits. The naval doctors come from 
another sphere, and consequently all the arrangements 
of the service are to perpetuate these established dis- 
tinctioris of civil life. As we have no such distinctions 
in our country, when we are all doing the best we can 
at home on our small pay — ^Doctors, Captains, and Com- 
modores, Kving in quiet streets and country towns — the 
Doctor does not think that he is patronized, and the Cap- 
tain may be willing to acknowledge him as a social equal. 
The atmosphere of his country is upon him, and is too 
healthy for the fungus of disgusting pretension. But 
when, removed from that, they meet in squadron upon a 
foreign station, a new influence is upon us. There our 
line ofiicers find that their compeers — the midshipmen, 
and the lieutenants, and the captains — are Prince So-and 
So, the Honorable Mr. So-and-So, or the son of Lord John, 
while the doctors are only the doctors — " merely middle 



22 * THE VOYAGE OUT. 

and lower class men, yoii know." Some of our folks 
get a vague idea that as English naval line officers are 
princes and lords, American naval line officers are some- 
thing of the same kind, and now they are very nervous 
as to the presumption of their medical brethren, and 
anxious to serve out the English law and custom to them, 
and lament the democracy which forbids it, forgetting to 
ask where and what the sons of their fathers would be 
under the institutions which put medical men in an infe- 
rior class ? I know I have been very ungrateful for the 
patronizing manner of these gentlemen. Those who have 
reached to any thing like rank, if they have had any doc- 
tor friends in the squadron to whom they have been com- 
mitted by imprudent intimacies at home, look upon them 
as a sort of poor relations. There is a kind of obligation 
to invite them to dinner occasionally, but not when any 
first class foreigners are present — a special j^atronizing 
sub affixir must be got up for the purpose. All this is 
very natural, and only shows human weakness more than 
human wickedness. Few men have strength of charac- 
ter sufficient to rise above surrounding influences, even to 
wear a hat not the fashion, much less a principle ; and it 
is scarcely to be expected of a service of routine, usage, 
and precedent, that it can represiint abroad the glorious 
sublimity and originality of the social structure of our 
country, which the foreign associates upon whom we model 
can neither respect nor comprehend — ^indeed look upon 
with contempt. I speak only of classes and general influ- 
ence ; our service is so fortunate as to have in it those broad- 
minded men who are more proud of being and acting the 
American citizen than the American naval officer, and who 
do not dwarf the broad principles they represent into a per- 
severing opposition to brother officers, who, equally with 
themselves, serve their common country, nor do they waste 
their energies in contests respecting strips of gold lace. 



"SLUSH." 23 

An excitement about what appeared at first to be a 
boat full of men, but which proved to be an abandoned 
wreck drifting about the ocean solitudes ; a gale of wind 
which sent the sea washing through the stern ports im- 
petuously, crushed and deluged the ward-room — our 
apartment — prostrated several with sea-sickness, rolled 
the San Jacmto terribly, dipping up the sea into her 
suspended boats on each side, and carrying away boats 
and davits, with our stock of potatoes and other vegeta- 
bles, were the principal external incidents in our run from 
Kew York to Madeira. 



III. 

S L U S H." 



Some years ago, during a visit to the West, I was in 
one of those growing, active, and prosperous cities, the 
sight of which is a source of patriotic exultation. Its 
commerce, social elegance, architectural splendor ; its 
temples of religion, halls of literature, and museums of 
art, were all resting upon that humble and despised ani- 
mal who literally lards the lean earth, whose brilliant 
light is now outshining that of the waning whale, and 
whose solid substance is one of the foundations of our 
naval existence. 

With the natural curiosity to see something of the pro- 
cesses by which these animals are brought into a con- 
dition of practical utihty, I visited one of the most exten- 
sive slaughter-houses. Immense droves of swine in a 
large inclosure were grunting impatiently to enter a nar- 
row passage, at the farther end of which swung a gate, 
which was, to every hog who passed it, the gate of death. 



24 ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

On its inner side he met the fatal knife, and his life-blood 
flowed a steady^ current into the neighboring river. 
Tumbled into vast cauldrons of boiling water, around 
which were crowded busy laborers, he passed with many 
of, his fellows down the steamy tide, was stripped of his 
bristles, robbed of his bowels, and soon hung with dis- 
tended limbs, clean and white, in a large room, amid 
whole platoons of his predecessors. 

I am almost glad I have forgotten, as I should fear to 
write, the incredibly small space of time occupied in this 
whole process. Not one of these hogs is owned by the 
proprietors of the establishment. Its great- outlay of cap- 
ital, its capacious buildings, its corps of laborers, steam- 
engines, cauldrons *and lard-vats, are all kept up to do 
their slaughtering gratuitously for the owners of the 
swine— better than gratuitously : the establishment pays 
a small charge for the privilege of doing the work, and 
finds an ample reward in the possession of the lumps of 
fat which are found adhering to the (I do not wish to 
ofiend ears polite) animal's interior arrangements. Such 
is the profit of small things. 

The " Slush Fund" of a man-of-war owes its valuable 
accumulation to a Hke economical savings of the oozings 
and drippings of the same animal. 

The manner of serving the rations is as follows : the 
crew is generally divided into messes of ten or twelve 
persons, and one of this number is called the " cook of 
the mess." Lucus a non lucendo. He does not cook, 
but takes care of the mess chest, the pots and pans of his 
mess, receives from the purser's steward the daily ration 
allotted them, ties the various articles in separate and ap- 
propriate bags and bundles, marks them with a tally or 
stick on which is cut the number of the mess. The 
rations are served out by the purser's steward, by tap of 
drum, on the day preceding that to which they belong. 



"SLXTSH." 25 

Each mess cook delivers his share to the ship's cook, who 
prepares it all in the large apparatus under his charge. 
Just before the hour of serving he brings a sample to the 
officer of the deck, to show that it is properly done. The 
mess cooks spread black painted cloths upon the deck, 
arrange the pots and pans, receive -their " grub" agaui 
from the ship's cook, and the boatswain's mates pipe all 
hands to their meals. 

It must be distinctly understood that all this refers 
exclusively to the men or crew, each division of officers 
having its own apartment, its own cooking apparatus and 
special cook, because upon this distinction rests the un- 
certainty of the " Slush Fund." 

This, fund is the product of the sale of the grease 
skimmed fi'om the water in which the crew's rations 
are boiled, and during a cruise it amounts to several 
hundred dollars. I^ow, where rests the proprietorship 
of this fund? With the crew, with the officers and 
ship generally, or with the United States government ? 
It is a mooted question, unsettled by statute law or by 
that ocean of naval reference for doubtful points, the 
"usage of the sea service" — which latter, like other 
oceans, varies its currents with the varying winds, or, 
in other words, according to the changing opinions of 
commanding officers. I believe the government, for the 
first time, became a claimant on this fund in the follow- 
ing circumstances. It seems to have asserted the arbi- 
ter's right to the oyster, leaving the shell to the Htigants. 

Nav"^ Department, September 29, 1855. 

Sib: — Your letter of the 28th instant, requesting au- 
thority to ship a band, and for the purchase of musical 
instruments for the " San Jacinto" has been received. 

The Commandant at N'ew York has been directed to 
cause a band to be enlisted. 



20 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

You will direct the purchase of the musical instru- 
ments, and the payment, for the present, out of " Con- 
tingent," to be reiDlaced, in time, from the " Slush Fund." 
I am respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. C. Dobbin. 
Commander H. H. Bell, 

Commanding U. S. Steam Frigate " San Jacinto," New York. 

This then led to various expressions of opinion. One party 
contended that the " Slush Fund" belonged exclusively 
to the crew out of whose flesh it came, and that it should 
be exjDended, for their benefit, for such ship indulgences, 
in which the crew could participate, as the government 
did not allow ; or for salutary fruits for their use when 
in port. This party admitted that a band might be a 
legitimate claim upon the *' Slush Fund," provided a band 
was not regularly allowed by the government, because 
the crew had the benefit of the music. But the band 
being a regular government allowance to a "^flag ship," 
to tax the " Slush Fund" with it, this party contended, 
was the rich man's infringement upon Naboth's vine- 
yard. 

Another party, I think it might be called a minority 
opposition — but I may be prejudiced in my judgment, 
as I belong to the other side — contended that although 
the " slush" did ooze out of the crew's meat, yet, as they 
could not individually save and take care of it, but this 
had to be done by the ship, therefore it might be ex- 
pended for decorations of the ship and of the boats, and 
such other things in which the crew had no special inter- 
est. This argument was replied to by saying that the 
ship was bound either to furnish the men with the means 
of taking care of their slush, or else to take care of it for 
them. 



MADEIRA. 27 

Sometimes, in the micertainty of the matter, both par- 
ties agree to hand it over to some charity. I heard of 
no faction sustaining the claim of the government, which 
may have arisen from the tendency of hmnan nature not 
to side with the strongest party, no matter how just its 
claims may be. This question, like many others, is still 
an unsettled one. It may ever remain such, as it involves 
principles of right, of interest, and of power. Thus far 
power has it, and as most of the questions which agitate 
the various able debating societies spread over our land 
have lost the interest of novelty, I recommend this to 
their notice, suggesting that they may favor the ends of 
justice by communicating their conclusions to the federal 
governnient. 



IV. 

MADEIRA- 



But little over two weeks since we left ISTew York — 
just sixteen days — but days of such shipboard tedium 
and discomfort, they seem as many weeks, and now on a 
bright Sunday morning, November 11th, we are running 
•along the mountain shores of Madeira, with its white 
villages and cottages perched along, and, one above 
another, far up the mountain side. 

Soft and balmy is the air ; blue, and gently rippling, 
the sea stretches away on our right hand ; while on the 
left — rocky, brown, red and purple — the mountain island 
rises from the ocean. At such time and in such a scene 
one may be excused a little poetical emotion— nay, would 
not one without it have that unmusical soul which the 
master of the human heart has told is "fit for trea- 
son, stratagem and spoil?" Islands, all islands, are pceti- 



28 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

cal existences in themselves ; their j^hilosophy is poetry : 
growing gradually from the deep sea depths by the mi- 
croscoijic labors of the coral insect, or thrust at once into 
the upper air amid earthquake throes and volcanic convul- 
sions shaking the earth to its center. Mysterious in their 
sea boundaries — cut off from the grave, sohd, unchanging 
character of the main land — they are the abodes of Calyp- 
sos, of pirate heroes and goat-skin clad Crusoes. But 
Madeira has its own special story to tell — a story of its 
first discovery being one of a love whose roughened 
course was o'er the stormy sea. Somewhere about five 
hundred years ago, when Edward the Third was King of 
England, the beautiful and noble Anna D'Arfet was 
loved and approved the love of Robert Machim, a gentle- 
man of low degree. After the natural series of mishaps, 
impediments and other family obstacles consequent up- 
on so unequal an attachment, the pair attempted to fly 
to France, but were driven they knew not whither by a 
violent storm, and in ten days were cast ashore on this 
island. Here the unfortunate Anna died of grief and suJ^ 
fering soon after landmg, and Robert, refusing all food, 
in a few days was laid by her side. His followers erected 
a cross over the graves, and a request that the first 
Christians might build a chapel on the spot, and then 
leaving the island, some of them communicated these 
facts to Gon^alves Tarco, and Tristam Vaz, who in 1420 
took possession of the place for the King of Portugal. 
In memory of Robert Machim they called the bay in 
which he had landed Machico. The church has been 
built over the graves of the lovers, and a j^iece of the 
cross which marked the spot is still retained as a relic. 
This was however but a rediscovery. The islands were 
known before the Christian era, and were subsequently 
called the Purple islands, by Juba, who had a scheme for 
manufacturing the GaetuUan purple ; and the Desertas, 



MADEIRA. 29 

as the barren and rocky islets near Madeira are called, 
at this day furnish the orchil, a beautiful purple dye, 
and hence the name. Zarco, from the forests covering 
the mountain sides, gave it the name it still retains — 
Madeira. 

But Madeira, to the wide world, does not mean the 
island or its forests. Soon after the occupation of the 
island, Prince Henry, son of King John of Portugal, 
sent the colony seeds and the materials of agriculture. 
Among them were a few slips of vine from the isle of 
Cyprus. What a future was before those vine slips ; and 
where have they not borne the word " Madeira," asso- 
ciated with the glowing liquid which had its origin in 
them, and upon which the fortunes of the island have 
flowed ? In the northern palaces of the Muscovite and 
the castles of the German. Diffusing its blessings with 
that of constitutional government, it appears on the table 
of both cit and noble, dispelling the gloom of England's 
fogs. Adopted by the conquering Saxon, it has followed 
him in Afiica and the Indies, amid the orange groves of 
Southern and the forests of Northern America, in the 
wastes of the ocean and the perils and privations of the 
camp. In all climes Madeira has been found, cheering 
social and festive communion. It has been heard in 
pledges of patriotic fervor, in those of love and friendship 
to present and absent. Entombed at the birth it appears 
at the bridal, and as the dusty and cobwebbed bottles 
come to light, they are regarded with a reverential awe 
due to the provident spirits of the departed ancestry who 
first deposited them in the vaults where they have 
ripened. 

But whilst we are thus sentimentalizing under the 
shadow of Madeira upon days and usages which are fall- 
ing beneath the onslaught of " Maine Laws" and teetotal- 
ism, our ship has run along the rocky shores until, just off 



30 THEVOTAGEOUT. 

a point, and standing out isolated in the sea, is the " Loo 
Rock," with a fortress upon its summit. From this point, 
for the distance of two or three miles, the rocky wall of 
the island sinks to a pebbly beach, along which is built 
the city of Funchal, white and brilliant, house above 
house and street above street, climbing up the mountain 
side ; and outside the city, still on higher terraces, are the 
cottages and " quintas," or country residences ; while yet 
further up, beyond all visible habitation, and overlook- 
ing all, is the church of " Nossa Senhora do Monte," Our 
Lady of the Mount, its white turrets contrasting with 
the dark background of the mountain which now sweeps 
away until its summit arrests the morning and evening 
clouds and mists, and is occasionally capped with snow. 

We have anchored, and numerous small boats are hur- 
rying off from the shore with washerwomen, and other 
persons desirous of our patronage, and of supplying us 
with the many comforts which we sea-worn people are 
likely to require. Among these boats is one bearing the 
Portuguese flag. It is that of the Captain of the Port, 
who, in the uniform of his station, comes aboard to in- 
quire into our character, state of health, etc., and also to 
arrange for an interchange of salutes. 

Before going ashore, and while they are drawing the 
shot and making other preparations for the salute, we can 
amuse ourselves in looking at these boats, and they are 
worth it, as they lie floating, all now dropped astern to 
be out of the way of the gims. They are prettily painted, 
are very deep, appear buoyant, and have at each end a 
slightly curved stick or handle, rising two or three feet 
above the boat. The salute of thirteen guns being fired 
and returned from the castle, we are now ready to put 
our feet on the shore. Several of us left the ship in one of 
our boats. But large and commodious as it was, we could 
not land in that boat. There was the smooth, regular 



MADEIRA. 31 

beach before us ; tbe sea was calm, but it so rolled and 
curled upon the beach, that we should have been cast 
away. Therefore, stopping our way, a native boat came 
alongside and received us ; then, pulling in close to the 
beach, we turned about, keeping our bow to the sea and 
our stern to the shore, and waited until a sea came rolling 
in, when, by a nice management of the oars, keeping our 
position, we rose upon the sea, were swept onward, and as 
it returned we were left upon the beach, and before an- 
other sea could catch us a rope was passed around the 
handle at the stern of the boat, and we were run up, amid 
shouts and cries, upon the Madeiran shore ; the boat hav- 
ing two side keels or runners to facilitate this movement. 
And now we have our first introduction to the humanity 
of the place — the beach combing, refuse humanity, it is 
true, but it is the first thing that arrests our attention, 
and I wish my readers to see every thing just as I saw it. 
Amiable, courteous, and respectful, oflT go their hats at our 
approach, for these people about the beach have generally 
caught foreign fashions and wear hats ; but we are very- 
much ^amused at the ridiculous appearance of one or two 
fellows who have the very summit of the head surmounted 
by a blue cloth funnel with its spike, three or four inches 
long, sticking stiff and straight up from the crown of the 
head. This is the caripuca, the national head-dress worn 
by both male and female. What could have originated 
such a head-dress is a matter of speculation, and equally 
to be wondered at is how the thing is retained on the 
summit of the head. It affords no protection of course 
from the rays of the sun, and being of double woolen 
cloth it must generate much unnecessary heat in the few 
inches of scalp covered by it. I have, however, my own 
theory, associating it with the national characteristic of 
courtesy. It is necessary to have some means of making 
their constant salutations, and this caripuca being grasped 



32 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

by its spike and carried in the hand as they are passing 
those to whom they wish to pay respect, is exactly the 
thing, and in all respects a capital appendage. But a less 
agreeable characteristic than courtesy is thrust upon us at 
the beginning — the want of energy and self-respect, which 
leads to a general demand for alms. " Pobre, pobre, 
pobre," salutes us on all hands as we continue our way to 
the Consul's. One poor old wretch, with a hideously dis- 
torted countenance, beseechingly thrusts herself and her 
hand in your way. Tour are about to take out your 
purse when a lad runs before you with a mutilated arm. 
Your first movement of charity has drawn a crowd : hur- 
rying on his crutches comes one without a leg — a woman 
with a baby — then little sparkling black-eyed boys and 
girls, with a sudden melancholy dropped over their coun- 
tenances, and scarcely vailing the smile lurking on their 
lips, thrust forth then* little hands, and in mingled English 
and Portuguese piteously ask our aid. Most of us have 
babies and little boys and girls at home, and there is no 
resisting them here. But some practical familiar of the 
place lays his hand upon your arm, and says, " Do n't 
give." He explains that the demand is interminable, that 
you will be beset wherever you move, on foot or on horse- 
back, in town or in country ; that you are now the vic- 
tims of the tender-hearted indiscreet who have preceded 
you. If you do put up your purse, you wUl need some 
reasons to satisfy your conscience, and they will come 
upon you in this wise : " I could n't give to all." " I 
did n't know who needed most." " Did any really need ?" 
Where there is so much begging there must be much 
charity, systematic as well as casual. They looked all in 
pretty good case, and the really needy must be provided 
for by some regular establishment. They are — and so we 
leave the pobres to beg on to-morrow and next year, as 
they have done in days and years that are past. 



MADEIRA. 33 

We will take a look at the streets — queer streets they are. 
You who walk on brick side-walks, with broad carriage 
ways intervening, would call them lanes and alleys, and, 
except where there are shops and stores, not lanes and 
alleys running between stores, but between dead walls, 
with here and there massive gate-ways and doors open- 
ing into the grounds and to the houses behind the walls. 
Your attention will soon be attracted to the pavement 
over which you are walking, and especially if you happen 
unfortunately to have on a pair of thin-soled shoes. It is 
all composed of small stones about the size of an egg, in 
many places set in regular figures, squares, diamond, etc., 
sometimes lined off by white stones. It looks very pretty, 
and the streets are neat and clean, for, being sharply in- 
chned planes, they are thoroughly washed by every rain, 
and besides, through most of them a gutter of mountain 
spring water is rushing. In addition to these natural 
means of cleanhness, a police regulation requires each 
householder to sweep before his premises every Saturday. 
It will readily be seen that such toy looking streets as 
these would soon be torn up by carts and carriages. But 
there are no such things as wheeled vehicles used. They 
would be unmanageable on these steep ascents, and here 
we have before us the mode of carrying burdens. Two 
pleasant chubby little oxen, not taller than our six month 
calves, are harnessed to a thick plank, about two feet 
broad, which, resting upon two narrower thick pieces as 
runners, is the island sledge. This one we are now look- 
ing at is laden with a hogshead, and seems to glide easily 
enough over the smooth polished stones. Having seen 
these things in our short walk to the Consul's, we enter 
the great gate through the outer wall of his residence, 
and, are immediately surrounded by the rich luxuriance 
of the climate. Our way is up the jDebble paved walk, 
shaded with overhanging foliage, a banana grove on one 



34 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

hand, and on the other a garden of orange, fig, pome- 
granate and coffee trees, laden with fruit, with a profusion 
of bright colored flowers, among which glow conspicu- 
ously the large scarlet petals of the " Manhao de Pasco" or 
" Easter Morning," as the Portuguese call it, the Poin- 
setti Pulcherrima of the Euphorbiaceae. Among the curi- 
ous growths of the garden attracting our attention, con- 
spicuous is the " Durante." We notice that a large space 
of the pebble-paved yard, from forty to fifty feet square, 
is completely and darkly shaded by foliage, the whole of 
which is the product of a single trunk, which, about 
eighteen inches thick, rises fi*om the centre of the space 
to the height of five to six feet, and then sjireads out as a 
vine, supported upon frame-work, and matting together 
for a thickness of two feet or more, covers the whole space 
as with an enormous umbrella of green leaves, small violet 
blossoms and bunches of bright yellow berries. 

Amid all this luxuriant vegetation, fruits, bright flow- 
ers and clear skies, we take a sleigh ride. Having a visit 
to make to an acquaintance far up tlje steep, it is sug- 
gested to us that we take a " carro," and one being sent 
for, we are apprised of its approach by long-drawn cries 
of Bu-oy, Buo-oy, and going to the gate we find two of 
the patient-looking little oxen yoked to a regular sleigh 
— or, as the English will call it, a " sledge." This sleigh 
is heavily built of mahogany, has a top and curtains, 
two cushioned seats, back and front, and is mounted 
on springs and runners heavily shod with steel. Four 
of us taking our seats in this vehicle, Avith a man and 
goad alongside the oxen, a boy running ahead of them, 
and a troop of beggars, little and big, alongside and be- 
hind, off we go up the hill amid cries of Buo-o-oy, Bu-o-y, 
the man every now and then dropping a greased doth 
under the runners to facilitate their gliding over the 
stones. 



MADEIRA. 35 

ISTeither do we want snow for a grand " coasting" ride. 
It would delight all those industrious juveniles who toil 
with their sleds up snowy hills to dash coasting down 
them, and it exceeds all which Russians can do by their 
artificial mountains of ice and snow. 

There, far up the mountain side, you see the church of 
"Our Lady of the Mount." We ride up to it on horse- 
back, ascending slowly from terrace to terrace, riding 
along the edge of vast gulfs, with rivulets groping 
through them like silver threads, overlooking quintas, 
valleys, Funchal, and seeing further and further out to 
sea with each step of our elevation. We are about three 
quarters of an hour reaching the church, about two thou- 
sand feet above the sea. From this point there is, how- 
ever, a precipitous road nearly directly down the moun- 
tain into the city. Our horses were now given in charge 
of the borroqueros who had accompanied us, clinging to 
the tails of their horses as we trotted up the steeps, who 
drove them back, while we took our seats in a wicker or 
basket-sled for a coasting descent down the steep. Two 
men, by a jerk upon ropes at each side of the car in front, 
gave it the descending impetus, when away we dashed, 
with great velocity, down the hill. The men jumped 
back, and bearing their weight upon the arms of the car, 
as they ran panting by our side, controlled its motion, 
and skillfully directed it around the turns and curvatures 
of the road. Gliding and whirling, shouting to foot pas- 
sengers to stand clear, in sixteen minutes we were in the 
city. 

There are yet other modes of conveyance. The palan- 
quin, shaded and curtained, and occupied by some lady 
in her silks and embroideries, is frequently met, suspended 
from a long pole borne on the shoulders of two men. 
Another more melancholy mode of conveyance is the 
hammock. Made of colored cord, red, yellow, blue and 



36 ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

green, like the palanquin suspended from a pole and 
borne upon the shoulders of men, it is seldom met ex- 
cept when occupied by one of the pale emaciated beings, 
who, in consumption's hopeless doom, have yet hopefully 
sought the balmy breezes of this clime. Amid all the 
brilhancy, the verdure, the soft and genial atmosphere of 
this island, it is melancholy to know, and to be continually 
reminded by those you meet, how many of its visitors 
have sought it, clinging, with their feeble frames, to a 
few more months of life. How wide the circle of appre- 
hensive and wakeful affections, passing through distant 
homes, finds its centre in this island. Husband for wife, 
wife for husband, brethren for brethren, and parent for 
child, are ever hoping its healing power over the absent 
loved one. And in many a Northern home, while snows 
are driving and -storms howling without, some bereaved 
one sits by the fireside glowing within, but, sadly musing, 
has wandered in thought from the broken domestic circle, 
away from the hearth and over the storm, to some ver- 
dure and flower-clad grave in the stranger's cemetery of 
Madeira. 



V. 

WINE. 



Now that the world has had its faith shaken in the 
generative princij^le of nobility, and doubts both the jus- 
tice and the expediency of those institutions, which, as 
Pascal says, "give to the infant in the cradle an influ- 
ence and consideration that could iK)t be acquired by 
half a century's practice of every virtue," we hear of 
merchant princes, and it is to be hoped that in further 
progress we shall hear of engine, loom, and anvil princes. 



WINE. 37 

Madeira has its wine princes, and where could one be 
supposed to taste the juice of the grape in higher table 
perfection than in the house of one of these noblemen, 
who live in a style justifying the title ? 

If I take any curious, inquiring reader with me to the 
table of one of these princes to which I am invited, he 
must not fear a wine debauch. This place of epicurean 
refinements and of delicate bouquets is not that in which 
a man puts pints and bottles under his belt, overwhelm- 
ing all delicate perceptions. The wine drinkers of Ma- 
deira are true epicures. A highly-flavored glass or two 
during dinner, a lengthened coqueting with a glass of 
some choice vintage after the cloth is removed, and that is 
all. Indeed those of the most nicely discriminating tastes 
rarely drink wine at all. Of course this commendable 
moderation may be in some degree departed from when 
they have a set of strangers desirous of taking advantage 
of a chance visit to go through all the choice vintage at 
one sitting. Well, we have dined and taken a glass of 
the ordinary table wine, generally known abroad as 
" London Particular," or else a glass of a dark port look- 
ing and astringent-tasted Yino-Tinto. Both are pro- 
nounced to be extraordinarily good, of course. As we 
are now drinking for wine information, we inquire what 
these wines exactly are. But stop — we will say nothing 
about the matter until there is a greater variety under 
discussion. The dinner is over, the dessert finished, the 
cloth removed, and with the nuts — among which are 
plates of roast chestnuts — old Virgil's " castanea nuces" 
— enormous nuts, such as, according to Professor Owen, 
antediluvian megatheria may have sat upon their hind 
quarters and picked from the top of the tree — decanters 
are placed at each end of the table, and the silver neck- 
laces suspended from their throats indicate them to be 
Malmsey — Bucd — Sercial — ^the aristocracy of wines. In 



38 . TIIEVOYAGEOUT. 

addition to these we hare the Yerdeilho and the Tinta. 
These five constitute the principal wines of the island of 
Madeira. They are all named from the kind of grape 
from which they are made. There are three others, but 
they make only a low order of wine seldom seen. The 
Yerdeilho is that generally used and known as Madeira, 
London Particular, etc. It is deepened in color by a 
slight addition of Tinta, and flavored by the rich and 
aromatic Buol. Sercial is also a highly-flavored wine. 
Malmsey is generally known to be a sw^eet, luscious and 
cordial-like wine. These three last are the most costly. 
The Tinta is made by pressing the husks and seeds with 
the juice. According to Dr. Christison and others, the 
proportion of alcohol in these wines is as follows : — 

Madeira (Yerdeilho) 20.35 

Sercial 18.50 

Malmsey 1 5.60 

Tinta 20.35 

It may not, even with the most delicate and fastidious, 
detract from the flavor of the rosy fluid to know that it 
has washed the feet of not over cleanly Portuguese labor- 
ers, for it has all been trod out by bare feet in the wine- 
press. Having tasted gently of these choice wines, an- 
other element of quality was brought nnder discussion — 
the element of age. Our host told us that the bottle he 
was then having opened, was of the vintage of 1815 — 
going on while Napoleon the Great was off" the island on 
his way to St. Helena, and was, therefore, at the present 
drinking, forty years of age. But neither its age, nor its 
unhappy historic association, was the cause of its excel- 
lence ; but at that period L'Este, a hot, dry wind, the 
Sirocco or Harmattan of Africa, was of more than usual 
prevalence, and the grapes ripened in superior richness. 
It was, to my, and I believe to the genei-al taste, a finely- 



WINE. 39 

flavored wine. Next, with due ceremonies and honors, 
a bottle was opened which our host, an EngUsh gentle- 
man, told us was their " Independence" wine, being of 
the vintage of '76. My companions all thought it very- 
superior, but, to me, it had very much the taste of a 
vapid medicated ether, and I honestly pronounced it, to 
my taste, unmitigated trash, and I remembered to have 
tasted, eighteen years before, a wine at the same table 
which had made the same impression upon me. My as- 
sociates earnestly ojDposed the correctness of my judg- 
ment, and I found myself in a minority of one. I ven- 
tured to sustain myself by quoting the opinion of Dr. 
Christison, which seems to be founded both on reason 
and experience, viz., that wines do not improve by great 
age. Like ourselves, they have their growth to their 
best condition and then deteriorate ; but the period of 
deterioration is different for different wines, or under va- 
rying circumstances for the same wine. At this stage 
of the discussion our host directed a bottle to be brought 
with great care from a specially named corner of the gar- 
ret, and when brought he took it carefully in his hand, 
drew, and decanted it himself, and handing a glass to 
me, he said, " Now taste that, and tell me what you think 
of it, and be careful do n't commit yourself." The wine 
was very clear, and of a pale amber color. I tasted it, 
mild, unspirituous, aromatic, and at once said, " It is the 
best on the table, and by far the best I ever tasted in my 
life." It was then handed to my companions, who all 
thought it very good, but by no means equal to the '76. 
Our host then said, with an earnestness and solemnity 
befitting the occasion, " It is a fare wine — a wonderful 
wine : there can be nothing superior to it, but it is one 
hundred years old f^ and thereafter our host and myself 
took np with the centenarian; but the Seventy-sixers, 
svith commendable consistency, and perhaps from patri- 



40 • THE VOYAGE OUT. 

otic motives, stuck to their first judgment. How much 
honest judgment, or that enemy to progress, pride of 
opinion, had to do with our pertinacity, none of us will 
ever know. 

In even all this tasting there had been but little wine- 
drinking — none of that reeking debauchery unfortunately 
so often seen in our own country, which mars, blunts, and 
vitiates the palate, and makes wine really grateful only 
from the amount of alcohol it conveys, and brandy itself 
more grateful than wine. It is, however, somewhat to 
our credit that the best Madeira, and that the least bran- 
died, is sent to the United States, and besides toming to 
us the best, our climate improves it more than that of 
Europe does. 

I trust that honestly-observed facts in relation to the 
character of wines, and in reference to the social habits 
of an eminently wine-drinking country, will not be con- 
sidered as a eulogium upon its use, but if those who use 
wine habitually in the United States all used it as I have 
seen it used in Madeira, temperance men might rejoice ; 
but upon that "if" the propriety of its use may depend. 

" Bright are the blushes of the wine-wreathed bowl, 
Warm with the sunshine of Anaoreon's soul ; 
But dearer memories gild the tasteless wave 
That fainting Sidney perished as he gave. 
'Tis the heart's current lends the cup its glow, 
What e'er the fountain whence the draught may flow." 

It would really seem as if the hand of Providence was 
directing physical influences in favor of total abstinence 
by the blight which has come over the grapes in wine- 
producing countries. Upon a former visit to this island 
I rode to the Great Curral or Curral das Freiras, an en- 
ormous chasm, which seems, when it first bursts upon 
you, to open to the earth's centre, with its six thousand 



WINE. 41 

feet of depth inclosed by the red, nigged pinnacled rocks 
shooting away to the clear sky above you ; but away 
down in the bottom of the depth you see miniature 
houses and a church, and they are two thousand feet 
above the sea. 

It is a long up-hill ride of eighteen miles to the point 
which looks down into the Curral, and much of it is along 
the edge of frightful precipices, and much of it also, when 
I made the excursion, was through vineyards where vines 
arbor ed over the road, or trelUs work, and hung their 
rich bunches just above your head and ready to your 
hand. But now such scenery no longer exists. The 
prophecy of Joel the son of Bethuel is in literal fulfill- 
ment. " Awake, ye drunkards, and weep and howl, all 
ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine ; for it is 
cut off from your mouth." For four years this wine- 
press has not been trodden, and the vine, fruit, leaf and 
stem, has disappeared. The annual product of the island 
was from fifteen' to twenty thousand pipes, and this past 
year not two hundred were made in the whole island. 
The whole stock on hand is only about ten thousand 
pipes, not more than the half of one good year's product, 
and this will be exhausted in from five to ten years ; even 
ff the grape were to be recovered now, it would take 
several years before the new wine would be fit for ex- 
portation. The disease, a mould or fungoid growth, has 
so far resisted all methods of cure, and scarcely more 
than a lingering hope exists of the recovery of the vine ; 
this hope would have the more encouragement if they 
could ascertain certainly that the disease had ever ex- 
isted before and passed away, but although documents 
and records have been carefully searched, the only evi- 
dence of the kind is in some old leases which specify that 
the rent is to be paid unless a failure of the grape occur. 

It is well known that in the first year of tha present 



42 • THE VOYAGE OUT. 

failure great distress and famine prevailed in the island, 
which was relieved by contributions from various parts 
of the world, and especially from the United States, by 
the introduction of the sugar-cane, sweet potatoes and 
other roots and fruits, abundance of which, at low rates, 
are now found in the markets. The Irish potatoes are of 
very superior quality, equal to the best in any part of the 
world. Those which are of the first quality are the pro- 
duct of seed sent out from the United States during the 
famine. 

I suppose it would not do to talk about Madeira 
and not say any thing of the extent of population, al- 
though any gazetteer would give the information. That 
of the island is a little over one hundred thousand, and 
that of Funchal about eighteen thousand. But there has 
been much emigration, diminishing the population. Fam- 
ine drove away many. Demerara, offering a premium for 
laborers, drew off many ; and a recent Protestant reforma- 
tion has driven from their kindred and genial home, to the 
wilds of America, several hundred martyrs for conscience' 
sake. And as, like our own Pilgrim fathers, they sought 

" Freedom to worship G-od," 

may their descendants be equally rewarded. Although 
the changed agriculture of the island has removed the 
apprehension of starvation, yet the destruction of trade 
and commerce caused by the wine blight has necessarily 
brought poverty to very many, and to some who have 
been in elevated and j^i'osperous circumstances. The 
female members of such families, turning to account the 
exquisite skill in embroidery for which they are cele- 
brated, devote themselves to the working of edgings, 
handkerchiefs, collars, sleeves, etc., which are sold by 
their servants to the strangers visiting the island. If the 
very low price at which this fine work is offered were not 



WINE. 43 

an inducement for those who can afford it, to buy, the re- 
flection that one is at once gratifying his own taste and 
relieving a necessity, ought to be. 

Among the Kght manufactures of the island a variety 
of beautifully manufactured baskets are industriously 
offered to strangers at very low rates, by street peddlers. 
Their mechanics also excel in the manufacture of inlaid 
wood work. Paper cutters, card cases, work boxes, writ- 
ing desks and tables are beautifully made in varied col- 
ors. The ground is generally of the black Til wood, and 
that is preferred which has darkened by age in some old 
wine press. It is inlaid with red cedar, orange, and 
other bright-colored woods. Centre tables made in this 
way, with vine wreaths inlaid, are exceedingly beautiful, 
and cost about thirty dollars. According to the fitness 
of things, and the tendency of our ordinary experience, 
one expects to see a water-mill at the foot of a hill or on 
the edge of a stream passing through a valley. In one 
of my rides with a friend up a steep hill side, I saw before 
me two red painted wooden tubes, coopered up like bar- 
rels, but about fifteen or twenty feet high. They were 
at the extremity of a stone wall. The wall inclosed the 
little mountain stream which plunged in at the top of 
these tubes, turned a wheel at their bottom, and was the 
power of the mill which ground the corn and wheat of 
the neighborhood. 

During this, my last ride in the island, we passed the 
large and elegant estate of a rich widow, whose history, 
illustrating, more than a little, island romance, may not 
unfitly close our visit to Madeira. The possessor of this 
estate and spacious mansion formerly came down from 
the mountain a barefooted peasant girl, laden with bun- 
dles or faggots of small wood, which she sold in the town. 
Tempted by a wealthy individual, somewhat advanced in 
life, she exchanged her hard and laborious existence for 



44- THEVOTAGEOUT. 

a more luxurious but less honorable position, but which 
finally terminated in her becoming the wife of her pro- 
tector. After his death she married a lawyer of talents 
and rising fame. He finally became the governor of the 
island, and the once barefooted, faggot-burdened peasant 
girl filled her distinguished position with a courtly grace 
and elegance which my informant said none others had 
excelled, and this among a peculiarly courtly and formal 
people. What then becomes of the opinions of those 
who think that one must be "to the manner born" to fill 
such stations without the stamp of awkwardness and vul- 
garity ? 



VI. 

CINDERS AND LAVA. 

Get down the map, my good reader, and unless you 
have the whole world-dotted and spotted geographically 
in your eye, look out the little island of Ascension, in 
mid-Atlantic ocean, between the coasts of Africa and 
South America, almost upon the equatorial division of 
this planet of ours, just a little south of the Line. Unless 
you not only understand but feel the wideness and wild- 
ness of its desolation, the tiny minuteness of its size, eight 
miles in its longest dimensions, and with one mountain 
peak, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen feet 
above the sea — unless you have all this before you, and 
at the same time the cindery, hard, dry, sterile character 
of the island, you can not feel the greatness of its in- 
terest. 

It must be among the youngest of Pluto's volcanic 
children, for there stand all around it and through it 
black and red volcanic cones of pumice, cinders, and cal- 



CINDERS ANDLAVA. 45 

cined iron ores, with ashy, dry, dusty plains between 
them. 'No moisture, no vegetation, no verdure, except 
on the summit of the "Green Mountain," which rises 
fresh and beautiful amid all this barrenness, and is the 
heart of all the usefulness of Ascension. 

This is one of the tapping places for the drum of our 
great ancestral nation, whose " beat salutes the rising sun 
around the circumference of the globe." 

When the world-sin of caging the great Napoleon in 
St. Helena was perpetrated, the English occupied Ascen- 
sion as a military station, and out of the evil necessity, 
by the blessing of God, has sprung a great good. With 
characteristic energy they developed and created re- 
sources of inestimable value in that lonely ocean. The 
arable land that lies around the summit of " Green Moun- 
tain" has been brought under cultivation, seeds and plants 
imported, so that now the garrison not only has enough 
for itself, but sufficient to refresh those who come in from 
the surrounding ocean wastes. More than that, they 
have collected the drippings and moisture from the 
mountain, and brought them down, by thirty-three thou- 
sand feet of three and a half inch iron pipe, to tanks 
near the shore, ii'om which ships of all nations in urgent 
necessity are supplied with this necessary of existence in 
its purest form. But water, the supply of which is de- 
pendent upon casual rains, and might be cut off by a 
drought, is too precious an article to be recklessly wasted, 
and therefore it is under almost as rigid a surveillance as 
it would be on board ship. The tanks, even the small 
ones of the officers' quarters, are under lock and key, and 
the allowance to each person on the island is limited for 
all purposes — one gallon a day for drinking, and four 
gallons a week for laundry purposes. Occasionally the 
island has been threatened with a fatal want of water, 
and upon one occasion water was brought from St. He- 



46* THEVOYAGEOUT. 

lena, a distance of about six hundred miles. They have, 
however, a distilling apparatus, which would prevent any 
urgent suffering. To make most available the limited 
resources of the place, no one is permitted to settle on 
the island but those under the control and in the employ 
of the government, and every thing produced on the 
island, even the turtles which land upon its shores, is 
the proj^erty of the government. Among the public 
buildings is a. good hospital, indeed two of them, one for 
convalescents in the cool air of the mountain summit, and 
a delicious resort in the healthy dry air of Ascension for 
all invalids, and especially for those broken down by the 
terrible fever of the African coast, or by the ravages of 
scurvy. During my stay of three days, several vessels 
passed in sight of the island. An American came in, was 
watered, and departed immediately. A French merchant 
ship came in in consequence of the illness of her com- 
mander, who was at once taken to the hospital. 

At the death of Napoleon, the necesity which origina- 
ted the occupation of Ascension ceased, but being so useful 
in relieving the distress incident to this mid ocean, it has 
been continued and made the depot for the British squad- 
ron on the coast of Africa. A large supj^ly of coal is 
also kept here for the use of ocean steamers, and, like 
every thing else, furnished to strangers at only cost and 
charges. Our ship was thus suiDplied with what coal and 
provisions we needed, besides being gratuitously filled 
with water, and presents of milk and fish kindly sent off 
to our messes by the ofiicers on shore. 

The only aborigines known to the island are female 
green turtle, Testudo Mydas, and. they are still held in 
high honor. Upon our arrival we were desirous of mak- 
ing the usual arrangements for saluting the British flag, 
but were told that it must not be done, and no firing of 
guns or pistols was permitted in the harbor, lest it should 



CII^"DBBS AND LAVA. 47 

frighten the turtle which, from December to June, come 
up on the island beaches to lay their eggs. So that honor 
to aldermanic turtle, sunk into silence the cannon bel- 
lowings and air concussions which are wont to tell how 
much greater one man is than another. I wonder when 
the old native forest Indian nature will wear out of our 
civilized hearts and usages. This saluting business, at 
least so far as it is done in honor of individuals, seems to 
me one of the most silly and undignified Indianings, to 
make a word, which our higher cultivated nature retains. 
And a particularly ridiculous effect of the custom is the 
fact of two great and grave nations disputing, because 
they can not determine which of their captains ought to 
fire most guns for the other. Why not end the matter 
by saying, " We think our man ought to have so many 
guns, and you think your man ought to have so many ; 
we will not take any offense at the difference of opinion 
— indeed it is fortunate, because we can compromise 
without firing at all, and save our powder for more useful 
purposes." The Ascension Turtle custom is by far the 
most sensible. The stars and stripes looked just as bright, 
the cross of St. George kept its place at the peak of the 
Tortoise, the harbor ship. Commodore Armstrong of the 
San Jacinto, and Captain Seymour, Governor of the island, 
were unshaken in their places or their dignity, and our 
magazines were the richer for so much powder. Reve- 
nons a nos tortues. In the season they come up on 
the sand beaches between the rocks, particularly on 
moonlight nights, and crawling high up on the sand, with 
their flippers dig a hole ten feet wide by two deep, and 
depositing their eggs, 70 or 80 in number, cover them and 
turn again to the sea. But on each of these beaches, of 
which there are five, look-outs are stationed, and these 
cutting off the turtle on her way to the sea, turn her on 
her back. In the morning, all so captured, are carted to 



48. THE VOYAGE OUT. 

ponds walled off from the sea. They are thus preserved 
for victualiDg the island and ships, and are rationed to 
the inhabitants twice a week. The average number taken 
each season, for many years past, is 513. In one year 
over 1200 were taken. In 1854 there were taken in 
January 101, m February 1*75, and in March 196 — total, 
472. The young ones as soon as hatched, which is in five 
weeks, take immediately to the sea, and it is remarkable 
that none ever return but the females^ and these not until 
they have reached from 500 to 700 lbs. weight. No 
small ones are ever seen. How long are they in reach- 
ing this immense size ? Where are they in the meantime 
and where are the males ? I was told that a turtle 
marked on this island had been captured on the coast of 
CaUfornia. It is also remarkable that although all or 
nearly all which come up are taken, yet about the same 
number comes up each year. These large turtles give 
about 150 lbs. of meat, and have one fixed price, about 
twelve and a half dollars each. An oflicer who has served 
his term of duty here, say three years, has the privilege 
of taking two turtles home with him. The inhabitants 
of Ascension, including those on board the harbor ship, 
the " Tortoise," number about four hundred, every one of 
whom is jiecessarily borne upon the books of the pay- 
master, as they are all victualed by him. 

Among the inhabitants are a number of native Africans, 
Kroomen, who do all the hard labor, that which, in their 
absence, would be done by the common sailors and 
soldiers, so that still the children of Ham, though free, 
are the hewers of w^ood and the drawers of water, the 
servant of servants for Japhet. The worthy and excel- 
lent Chaplain of the island introduced me to a school in 
which some six or eight of these liberated Africans were 
being educated, and had learned to read and write toler- 
ably well. 



CINDEES AND LAVA. 49 

Whilst taking our walks round about and among the 
neat one story buildings, used as officers' quarters, in their 
midst we came to one in front of which sits a large portly 
negress, and the whole establishment, from parlor to kit- 
chen, is evidently in possession of Africans. We enter. 
Bow your heads reverently, all ye disciples of Hume, 
Sir Walter Scott and Sir Archibald AHson, all ye ven- 
erators of divine right, for you are in the presence of 
royalty. This is the residence of the King of Bonny, in 
AfPica, a state prisoner to the Queen of England, and the 
portly lady who received us so graciously is his queen, or 
one of them. In court language, he received us gra- 
ciously, and asking us to be seated, he directed wine to 
be handed to us and to himself. Speaking English im- 
perfectly, he asked us our names and occupations, and 
manifested much satisfaction that we had done him or 
ourselves the honor, whichever it was, of calling on him. 
He is said to be a man of wealth and influence in his own 
country, and the British government allows him four 
thousand dollars a year while in captivity. But his ma- 
jesty does not like the gilded cage : he wants to get out. 
There did not seem to be any clear reason why the King 
of Bonny was in captivity. The nearest approach I could 
make to the cause of it was, that British merchants 
wanted to buy all the palm oil at lower rates than he 
would dispose of it or allow it to be sold by his subjects ; 
therefore he was imprisoned for interfering with trade. 
At first he was kept upon the coast, but managing to 
send an order to his dominions, still prohibiting the sale 
on any but his own terms, it was thought expedient to 
send him more remote from his dominions. He himself 
said the Enghsh were great rascals, they shut the Emperor 
Napoleon up in St. Helena, and him in Ascension. The 
truth is, the principle is the same in both cases, only the 
magnitude of the N'apoleonic crime makes the parallel of 



50 * Til JS VOYAGE OUT. 

his sable majesty ridiculous. The oflScers at Ascension 
spoke of his confinement as an injustice. 

We were told of a singular sea phenomenon which 
sometimes occurs at Ascension and St. Helena. Having 
no opportunity of witnessing it I quote the follo^ving de- 
scription, by a Mr. Webster, from Purdy's EthioiDic Direc- 
tory. He says : 

" One of the most interesting phenomena that the 
island affords is that of the Rollers; in other words a 
heavy swell, producing a high surf on the leeward shores 
of the island, occurring without any apparent cause. All 
is tranquil in the distance, the sea breeze scarcely rip- 
ples the surface of the wave, when a high swelling wave 
is suddenly observed rolling towards the island. At first 
it appears to move slowly forward, till at length it breaks 
on the outer reefs. The swell then increases, wave urges 
on wave, until it reaches the beach, where it bursts with 
tremendous fury. The Rollers now set in and augment 
in violence until they attain a terrific and awful grandeur, 
affording a magnificent sight to the spectator, and one 
which I have witnessed with mingled terror and delight. 
A towering sea rolls forward on the island like a vast 
ridge of waters, threatening as it were to envelope it ; 
pile on pile succeeds with resistless force, until meeting 
with the rushing offset from the shore beneath they rise 
Hke a wall and are dashed with impetuous fury on the 
long line of the coast, j^roducing a stunning noise. The 
beach is now mantled over with foam, the mighty waters 
sweep over the plain, and the very houses in the town are 
shaken by the fury of the waves. But the principal 
beauty of the scene consists in the continuous ridge of 
water, crested on its summit with foam and spray ; for, 
as the wind blows off the shore, the overarching top of 
the wave meets resistance, and is carried, as it were, back 
asrainst the curl of the swell; and thus it plays elegantly 



CINDERS AND LAVA. '51 

above it as it rolls furiously onward, graceful as a bend- 
ing plume; while, to add more to its beauty, the sun- 
beams are reflected from it, in all the varied tints of the 
rainbow. 

*' Amid the tranquillity which prevails around, it is a 
matter of speculation to account for this commotion ot 
the waters, as great as if the most awful tempest or the 
wildest hurricane had swept the bosom of the deep. It 
occurs in situations where no such swell would be ex- 
pected, in sheltered bays and where the wind never 
reaches the shore. The strong and well built jetty of the 
town has once been washed away by the Rollers, which 
sometimes make a complete breach over it, although it is 
twenty feet above high water mark. On these occasions 
the crane at its extremity is washed around in various 
directions, as the weather-cock is turned by the wind, and 
landing becomes impracticable for the space of two or 
three days. Such are the Rollers of Ascension, and 
like imto them are those of St. Helena and Fernando 
Noronha. 

"The season in which the Rollers prevail is from De- 
cember to April, not but that they do occur at other 
periods, and they have been felt severely in July. Ships 
at the anchorage are perfectly secure, and they have to 
apprehend no danger unless within the immediate influ- 
ence of the breakers. Not only are the seasons of the 
Rollers the same at Ascension and St. Helena, but they 
sometimes are simultaneous in occurrence. The Chanti- 
cleer, while at anchor at St. Helena on the lYth and 18th 
of January, 1830, experienced some very high Rollers. On 
our subsequent arrival at Ascension I inspected the me- 
teorological journal of my friend Mitchell, the surgeon of 
the island, and found it noted that the Rollers were so 
high on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of January that landing 
was impossible. Here then is a coincidence as to time." 



52* THEVOYAGEOUT. 

The cause of the Rollers has been speculated upon, and 
various conjectures formed of them. Some have attri- 
buted them to the eifects of the moon, 

" Whom Ocean feels through all his countless waves, 
And owns her power on every sphere he laves ;" 

and others have attributed them to the tides ; but it is 
evident these have nothing to do with them. They occur 
in the most tranquil season of the year, when the south- 
east trade-wmd is very light, when the vast volume of 
water is impelled in one direction. There is then a tend- 
ency to a back-set, or to a rush of w^ater in a contrary 
direction, and a tumultuous sw^ell is produced whenever 
it meets with the resistance from the islands, and banks 
upon which they are based, as well as the shores of a con- 
tinent. The long, steep beaches of Ascension are admir- 
ably adapted for the full display of the effect which has 
just been described. 

Having been hospitably welcomed by the gentlemen on 
shore, and on board the harbor ship the " Tortoise," on 
the 12th of December we closed our relations with them, 
and took our departure from Ascension. 

As I looked back upon its red hills and green central 
mountain, I thought it somewhat emblematic of the people 
whose flag it bore. Planting themselves with volcanic 
energy and violence in the most remote wastes of the 
ocean, but with hearts and minds a central source of fresh- 
ness and vigor, reanimating the ages of the dead past, and 
from the ashes and cinders of an extinct civilization call- 
ing up that which is new, energetic, and of world-wide 
usefulness. 

Having steamed out of the port, our fires were put out, 
the clanking of the engine ceased, and sail was made on 
the ship. It was now pretty generally understood that 
instead of steaming to the Cape of Good Hope, which 



CINDEKS AJTD LAVA. 53 

would require about eighteen days, we were to sail there, 
which would occupy from thirty to forty. Besides, to 
make the winds fair, we were necessarily compelled to 
steer away from our point of destination, or at best to 
make a right-angled instead of a diagonal course to it, 
conditions not gratifying to those impatient of long sea 
voyages. However, good fortune was with us, and the 
wind diverted us less from our course than we might have 
expected. On Christmas day, it is true, we had made only 
about live hundred miles, not quite so much, on our way, al- 
though we had sailed about one thousand four hundred, but 
the day was a beautiful specimen of the charming climate 
which had been around us, and which might well tempt 
us to dally on our way to the Indies. The sea was smooth 
as a lake, and with the blue transparency of a clear atmos- 
phere, the south-east trade-wind was gentle and steady, 
and the temperature, although the sun was vertical, in 
harmony with every sensation of comfort, without impart 
ing the least feeling of languor and lassitude. Thermo- 
metrically it was steadily 76° Fahrenheit. 

Our whole ship's company greeted the first hour of this 
festal day, for just before midnight the drums beat to 
night quarters, and roused every one from his slumbers. 
And when Christmas came, on board the San Jacinto, it 
was amid the rolling of the big guns, the sounding of rattles 
to call away boarders, or the ringing of bells to extinguish 
imaginary fires. This lasted nearly two hours, when the 
retreat was sounded, and all except the watch again re- 
tired to rest. On the following day all labor in the ship 
was suspended, and the men generally occupied themselves 
in reading under the shade of the awnings, the band play- 
ing old familiar tunes, and most of us talked much and 
thought more of our distant homes. But then fine nights 
are an enjoyment, and the Southern Cross glitters like a 
jewel on the dark brow of the firmament for our admiration 



54 , THE VOYAGE OUT. 

— but admiration is not affection, and we world-wide wan- 
derers have even astronomic.il affections. 

" Look," said one of my lieutenant friends to me, a 
few nights before we crossed the line, " at that little dim 
star in the north. It is the last night perhaps you will 
see it for some time to come." 

The belt of clouds and rain which intervenes between 
the trade-wind of the northern and those of the southern 
hemisphere shut out the north star sooner than we would 
lose it by our progress south, and as the unpretending 
emblem of fidelity, associated with our northern home, 
sank behind the dark curtain, we felt like parting from an 
old and tried friend, and by no means favorably inclined 
to the brilliant seductions of the Southern Cross. It is 
natural for travelers to see every thing in exaggeration, 
both because it is new and because we have an associated 
importance with that of the wonders we see, but never- 
theless I am bound to agree with the sententious remark 
of a practical friend who, upon seeing the constellation 
for the first time, said it was " no great shakes" after all. 
It may be that I judge it under the indignation of its 
usurping the place of my northern friend, but it is neither 
proportioned, straight in its arms, nor brilliant in the four 
stars only which make it up. It beai's no comparison with 
our Ursa Major, and at least half a dozen as good crosses 
may be imagined in any part of the heavens. 

Our pleasant meteorological condition continued up to 
the 20th of the month, when the wind came out ahead 
and chilly. We were turned towards Cape Horn, the 
sea rolled up into fresh, brisk waves, j^itching the ship 
into uneasy motions, and stirring up bilge-water. The 
air ports, those precious round holes which, about the 
size of a breakfast plate, let in the air and light to our 
dungeons, were closed — thick glass j^lates screwed into 
them, shutting out of course all air, and reducing the 



CINDERS AND LAVA. 55 

light to that dim, watery kind of a gleam which must 
reach the fishes in their sea depths. Albatrosses, too, 
were sailing magnificently through the air, and skim- 
ming the cresting waves. Some of our sensitive natures 
thought themselves sea-sick, and resorted to small glasses 
of porter, brandy and water, and horizontal positions. 

That little puff did not last long, and now, January 1st, 
1856, we have another beautiful day, but oh ! so tiresome. 
We have made nothing on our way. Here we are, about 
where we have been for a week past, and with plenty of 
coal in our bunkers, a smooth sea, through which our en- 
gines could urge us without impediment ; our port only 
about ten days off. Yet here we lay. The same daily 
routine : rise at six bells, seven o'clock — hear the drums 
roll for the men's grog, while shaving — ^breakfast at eight 
— quarters for inspection at two bells, nine o'clock — this 
lasts ten minutes — then the Doctor prescribes, and every 
one goes to what he has to do, some to duty, and others 
to reading, sleeping, smoking, walking the deck, and 
no more break in the day until the drum again rolls for 
grog at seven bells, half past eleven o'clock, and the Mas- 
ter gets an observation of the sun at meridian, when he 
tells us all it is twelve o'clock, and mechanically remarks 
what the latitude is, and the men are whistled or piped 
to dinner — then we read, and sleep, and walk again. 
Then, at four bells, two o'clock, the drum beats to our 
dinner, and this is a grand event, not as a dinner, but as 
a time mark. We grumble at our food and the Caterer, 
criticise our captain and commodore in particular, and all 
other captains and commodores in general ; are very wise 
and learned upon the books from which we have, in self- 
defense, been cramming all the morning, but as our learn- 
ing is only for the occsaion, it wears out in one day, and 
is replaced by a new stock for the morrow. By the way, 
I must expatiate a little upon this peculiarity of man-of- 



56, THEVOYAGEOUT. 

war students, or rather readers. If a man were to have a 
sum of money loaned him for a temporary use, or even 
had suddenly acquired it, and was to go about arrogantly 
boasting of his wealth, and despising men jDermanently bet- 
ter off but not so inflated for the day, we should think 
him both silly and vulgar. We regard it as such for the 
really wealthy to obtrude their superiority upon us, and 
it is no better taste for a man to rush from his room and, 
with facts and principles gathered fresh for the occasion, 
obtrude them as substantial learning. With this episode 
of ward-room ethics, I go on with our routine. Dinner 
over, more reading, smoking, sleeping, until again the 
drums beat for evening inspection quarters, after the 
crew, at four or five o'clock, have had their supper — ten 
minutes at that — the medical officers do the evening pre- 
scribing — the men have their hammocks piped down, that 
is, the boatswain's mates blow their whistles for those men 
to come and get their hammocks who have the watch be- 
low, or whose turn it is to sleep in, and then we have our 
supper — chat a little. The oflicers who have the mid and 
morning watches soon retire to their rooms. He who 
has the sleep in gossips with those who have no watch. 
Eight o'clock puts out the lights on the berth deck, nine 
o'clock extinguishes those of the steerage, and ten puts 
out ours in the ward-room, and then the day is done. 
This, with daily exercise of divisions at the guns, occa- 
sional drilling in small arms, and twice a week general 
quarters for a grand battle exercise, make up the routine 
of our existence. There is occupation enough — leisure 
enough — but the occupation is an unvarying form, the 
leisure, a weary interval of wearying pursuits. No fresh- 
ness, no change, no novelty. 

" Lovely seemed any object that should sweep 
Away the vast, salt, dread, eternal deep." 



WATER. 57 

Here we lay upon its bosom in a calm — the winds lulled, 
the engines and the engineers rusting, the occupation of 
coal-heavers and firemen gone. We pity Mr. Marcy, if 
he wants that treaty with Siam made. We pity the King 
of Siam for the delay in receiving all these magnificent 
mirrors, these chandeliers, and other presents of our liberal 
minded Uncle. We pity Mr. Harris, who is delayed in 
making that treaty, and may be cut out by some swifter 
keeled nation. We mourn for Manifest Destiny, which is 
so long delayed in its diplomatic entrance to Siam. We 
mourn for those who are awaiting our relief in the China 
seas, but, most of all, we mourn for our pent up selves, 
and grieve that we are not rich enough to refund to the 
national treasury the cost of the coal which would take us 
to the Cape of Good Hope. 

Hope — it is a cheering sentiment for this l^ew Year's 
day, and a propitious word to close this chapter. It is a ray 
from a future sun gilding the clouds of present affliction. 

" Weather braces ! Weather braces !" cries out the 
officer of the watch. 

" A fair wind at last," says an officer at the ward-room 
table, looking up in pleased emotion from the book over 
which he was dozing, and once again we all hope. 



VII. 

WATER 



" Ltjdlow, you black rascal, what are you at, drawing 
water out of that filterer ?" 

" It 's for the Doctor, sir," said my sable servant, in 
reply to this peremptory demand of our most worthy 
caterer. 

3^^ 



58 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

" The Doctor Las his allowance, three pints a day, and 
keeps it in his room ; you 've no business with the fil- 
terer— " 

" The Doctor wants to borrow some, sir ; he '11 'turn it, 
sir." 

"Well, take it along, but if the Doctor borrows water 
from that filterer, he must return it with interest. Some 
is always wasted in filtering — you hear ?" 

" Yes, sir." 

Worse, Mr. Caterer, than Shylock. He took only the 
pound of flesh nearest the heart, but you take interest on 
the fluid of life. But after all, the caterer was right — as 
a just man he was right. 

It was only a few days before this interesting conver- 
sation, that the Master, the young gentleman who has 
charge of our water expenditure, rushed into the ward- 
room, exclaiming with emotion — 

" Well, in all my service, this is the first time I have 
been upon an allowance of water, even in sailing ships — 
but, here, in a steamer, I have been ordered to serve out 
only three quarts a day to each man." 

This announcement created a sensation. Three quarts 
a day is certainly not a sufiering limitation. Poor Bligh 
of the Bounty, with his boat's crew, got on with about a 
gill a day — got along very uncomfortably, it is true, and 
had no choice. But Bligh had no cofiee, tea or soup to 
make. He had no hams, pork, beef, codfish to boil, nor 
beans either. He did not shave every day during that 
voyage, nor care much whether his face or any other part 
of his person were washed. Now let any of you who tap 
the Croton when you will, or let the bucket down the 
mossy well, or dip from the bubbling sprmg, make the 
calculation and see how far three quarts will go for all 
these purposes, and for what you may require to drink on 



WATER. 59 

a melting summer day, and you will see there was cause 
for a sensation. 

Measures were to be taken in this emergency. We 
were, in the tropics, the sun was vertical, our cells were 
close and sudorific. Such was the condition of those of 
us most lucky. But the men had to move about, twice 
a week, with great activity, to pull and haul at the great 
guns, and run about with swords, pikes and pistols in 
their hands — sweating prodigiously. 

Physiologists tell us that the skin is very leaky — runs 
off about five pounds of water a day ; and certain work- 
men in gas factories lose from two to three pounds an 
hour. Six pounds a day, to supply such a run upon the 
fountain of life, would hardly keep it solvent. I will 
mention another physiological fact, and it is, that when 
men know themselves to be on allowance, the desire for 
drink wonderfully increases. ISTature resists the force put 
upon her ; and if it must be done, it were well to do it 
secretly. 

However, manly hearts meet stern necessities without 
complaint, and this must have been a case of necessity. 
There must have been reasons for it — but as these were 
none of our business, of course we could not judge from 
them, and the thinking apparatus is such a busy machine, 
it will work upon what materials it has for want of better. 
At one gallon a day each man, there were forty days' 
water in our ship, and even trusting to winds we were 
not more than twenty days from any supposed port, and 
having coal and steam could have commanded our time. 
There was a mystery in it — a ship mystery which the 
reader will bye-and-bye have solved. 

But, as I said, measures were to be taken in this emer- 
gency. There was our filter er which we had bought to 
purify our drinking water, and preserve our health — if the 
water was all put in that, and every one had the run of 



60 ' THEVOYAGEOUT. 

it, those who drank early would have an advantage over 
those who drank late, and those with camel-like capacities 
might leave the less favored dry. Those of us who had 
little faith, met this difficulty by bottling up our supplies 
in our rooms. But then there were tea, coffee and cook- 
ing generally. We made a close calculation, and agreed 
to allow from our share one half, or three pints, for general 
mess purposes; that left only three pints for shaving, 
cleansing teeth, washing and drinking. Such were my 
water relations leading to the collision between Ludlow 
and the caterer. 

These solemn circumstances impressedT us seriously ; 
and as at the witching hour of night, and in suspected 
places, we have an irresistible propensity to tell ghost 
stories, so we drew around the mess-table and told terri- 
ble tales of thirst. 

Captain Bligh, and his gaunt boat's crew, glided before 
us. One Navy captain, one of our Navy captains, was told 
of who so tenaciously held to an allowance of water that 
it held even m port. Finding a boat's crew bringing off 
a small keg for their own use, he commanded it to be 
thrown into the sea. Another was remembered who 
washed his cabin with fresh water, while his crew were 
parching with thirst, and some of these sucked the wet 
swabs or mops with which the washing had been done. 
These were all doomed to Tautalian torments or to the 
scurvy blotches and boils which they are supposed to 
have inflicted upon their luckless shipmates. I myself 
had a vision of my youth. A beautiful scene in Florida, 
a wooded hill-side sloping down to a pretty winding 
stream, and just where the margin of the creek washed 
the hill-side, shaded by a branching tree, welled up a 
gurgling spring. There, by that spring-side, during the 
hot summer days, day after day, sat a weather-beaten 
man, with an honest and benevolent countenance. A 



WATER. 61 

broad-brimmed white hat generally lay on the ground 
beside him, while the cool breeze played with locks which 
were beginning to whiten with age, although he was but 
a Lieutenant in the Navy. He was a native of Virginia. 
One day I remarked to him as I walked by, 

" This seems a favorite spot of yours, Mr. Goodwin." 
He sprang to his feet and exclaimed, " Sir, it 's a para- 
dise. In my section, sir, are many such springs as that, 
and I 've been free to drink my fill, sir, all my life. But, 
sir, during the whole of this * * * ^- cruise, I 've 
been on an allowance of water, and I sit here, sir, and I 
drink, drink," he exclaimed with energy, " till I can 
drink no more, just to spite Captain C. ; then I call to 
him, sir, to come here and put me on an allowance if he 
dare." 

He sat down again remarking, '^ Yes, sir, this place 
resembles my section very much." Poor Goodwin ! 

" The maasy marbles rest 
Upon his breast 

Long ago;" 

and I suspect it must be near some one of the cool, bub- 
bling springs of his section. 

The allowance of water, by strict economy and some 
privation, got along pretty well for a day or two. The 
first visible efiect of it was ethical. Many moralists 
contend that there is a close sympathy between a clean 
skin and rectitude of deportment. Be that as it may, one 
of the messes found that its whole allowance had been 
stolen early in the day, and had to ask a fresh supply. 

The next was chemical. Salines preponderated in the 
blood. Ham and mackerel for breasfast, ham, tongue, 
salt beef and pork for dinner, were found to be aque- 
ducts which ran off the whole supply before the day was 
done, and we were limited to those delectable unifor- 



62 ^ THE VOYAGE OUT. 

mities put up in tin cans, whose chief distinction is the 
labels on the outside. I will except the lobster, the sal- 
mon and the soups. 

Next came a meeting at the mast between a delegate 
from the shij^'s company, the officer of the deck and the 
First Lieutenant. The men had found out that rice and 
beans were great soakers, and sponged too heavily upon 
their limited means, and therefore wanted permission to 
leave them in Uncle Sam's possession, restricting their 
diet to salt meat alone. The men had no tin cans of fresh 
meats. So far, at least, we were better off than the 
men. 

Sometimes I got very tired of my cell life, and by way 
of change would develop — ascend to the region of sover- 
eignty, and make a call upon my friends, the Commodore 
and the Captain. The first was an old friend, and the lat- 
ter I had known when he was midshipman ; but as I held 
the important-sounding title of " Surgeon of the Fleet," 
perhaps I might have ventured in there independent of my 
amicable relations, but I do n't know. I had no right 
to walk on any part of the quarter deck except the port 
side — the remainder was reserved for the Commodore, 
Captain, First Lieutenant and officer of the deck. The 
space of plank which I had the right to walk, in common 
with twenty-four other officers, was about twenty-five feet 
long by six wide. Under the " ancient discipline," over 
whose mouldering bones so many lament, no such re- 
strictions were imposed upon me in my inferior position. 

Well, I made the call, and I should not mention it but 
for its great scientific results. Talk no more of the fall of 
the apple. Let Archimedes go on crying "Eureka," and 
Prichard prose about the unity of races. Let Geoffrey 
St. Hilaire defend, against Cuvier, his theory of " Unity 
of Composition" with such animation as, " On the eve 
of the revolution of 1830, withdrew for a moment the 



WATER. '" 63 

attention of politicians from politics, and which com- 
pletely overshadowed, in Goethe's mind, the importance 
of the revolution itself; for he knew that a whole revo- 
lution in thought, far deeper and far more important to 
humanity than twenty July days, was germinating there." 
All their discoveries were as nothing to mine, and I am 
prepared to prove all their unities of races and compo- 
sitions a complete humbug. 

I entered the cabin, and took my seat, at the polite 
request of the ever courteous Commodore. After a few 
words of more general conversation, I asked — 

" How does the allowance of water hold out with 
you ?" 

" Oh, very well — we have plenty." 

" Plenty to cook with, plenty to wash with, plenty to 
drink?" 

" Yes." 

" More than enough, may be ?" 

" Oh no ; we have to manage and economize." 

"Why, is it possible you use your allowance every 
day ?" When there is an allowance, it is alike to all in 
the ship, the reader will understand. 

" Certainly." 

I here began to fall into that painful mental puzzle 
which precedes the birth of a great thought. 

I looked around the cool and airy cabin, with the breeze 
playing in and out its ports. I thought of my own sweat- 
ing cell. I thought of more : of cases of claret, and casks 
of ale, with which we officers might eke out our allow- 
ance ; of the difference between cases of fresh meat and 
chunks of salt junk. I thought of the difference between 
those sitting in a cool cabin, and those pulling at the gun- 
tackles, or working in the fire-room, and in these facts 
and contrasts I had enough to erect a theory upon — more 
indeed, than the basis of many theories. How is it, I 



64 » THE VOYAGE OUT. 

asked, that the same allowance of water which is just 
enough for men under the most favorable circumstances, 
is fully sufficient for others in such different conditions ? 
Here the apple hit me on the head. I remembered that 
the works upon the laws of life are entitled, " Principles 
of Human Physiology." It is then evident that these 
pretenders to science have overlooked one fact just under 
their noses. Human physiology should embrace all men ; 
but these observers have failed to study either sailors or 
officers, inasmuch as naval law so distinctly recognizes a 
difference in their natures that one or the other must be 
excepted from " humanity." 

I might be satisfied with resting my fame upon this 
discovery, but I made others. 

I promised the reader to solve the mystery of what 
may be called, " privations without necessity," and it 
shall now be done. 

In the " good old days," under " the ancient discipline" 
of the service, when men were flogged, and officers were 
6ommitting themselves by getting drunk, breaking theii 
liberty, and other violations of propriety, captains had a 
glorious time ; they could daily give tangible evidence of 
their authority, and roll it as a " sweet morsel under their 
tongues." They could get into great passions, swear, 
and cry out at the top of their voices, " Go below, sir, 
and consider yourself suspended from duty," and feel re- 
lieved and comfortable. But what can they do in these 
days of staid propriety ? When officers do their duty from 
a conscientious sense of obligation, and respect themselves 
more than they fear authority, the captain's occupation 
seems nearly gone. What there may be stormy in his 
nature, is " cabined, cribbed, confined" by an invisible 
cii'cle of conscientious deportment which will not let him 
blow out. His existence might be overlooked, and so — 
he stops your allowance of water, and you feel his power 



WATER. 65 

in every moving fibre and flowing vein. Is that not rea- 
son enough, unreasonable doubters ? 

No matter where you may be sitting at this moment 
reading my sea-cell developments, just for a short time 
imagine yourself sitting quietly alone in an elegantly- 
furnished upper room of a large house. There are two 
or three hundred people engaged in various avocations 
in the rooms beneath you, and although acknowledging 
your superiority, thinking more of their work than of 
you. This wounds your vanity. You throw yourself 
back in your chair ; you stretch out your legs, and cross 
one over the other, and think. Suddenly it occurs to 
you to chain down the handle of the pump in the yard 
for one half the day, and stick up a notice that it was 
done by your authority. You may then feel assured that 
your existence is felt, and may enjoy the consciousness of 
power. And this mystery of water is the secret of more 
than half of what is called military discipline. I think, 
however, that naval government in this respect is essen- 
tially defective, so long as there is no sufficient means of 
serving out allotments of hght and air at the instigation 
of whim and caprice, and am very certain that a Navy 
board could be found capable of organizing the system ; 
but at the very beginning I protest against its appropri- 
ating the originality of the suggestion. 

My friend. Lieutenant Bryan Boroihme, as he came in, 
trumpet in hand, after being relieved from the forenoon 
watch, sat himself down and looked serious, even sad ; 
after a few moments he remarked slowly, half speaking 
to himself, "I shall be glad when this allowance of -water 
is at an end." 

I must, however, make my reader acquainted with 
Bryan, although I am not sure that the course of this his- 
tory vpill give them the pleasure which I had, of an ex- 
tended association. He was one of those who, being a 



G6 , THEVOYAGEOUT. 

law unto themselves, fortunately had that law resting 
upon a right heart and a sound head. His sympathies 
were with his fellow-man in the widest sense, and he rec- 
ognized the rights and claims of humanity, independent 
of external circumstances, and as superior to those of any 
individual. His mental stores had been gathered from a 
wide field of literary ranging, and he was equally ready 
to hurl a sturdy oak of principle at wrong, or to cast the 
flowers of poesy upon the angry waters of discussion as 
they rolled by him. Such was the man to whose involun- 
tary remark I replied, by asking what suggested it. 

" I '11 tell you. During my last mid-watch, I was stand- 
ing near the binnacle, when I heard a sort of sigh or 
grunt of discomfort from Turner the quartermaster, who 
was at the 'conn.' It attracted my attention, and I 
asked him what was the matter. 

" ' I was thinking, sir, of a hard time I had once on ac- 
count of a shijD wreck.' 

"I have no objection myself to talking to the men and 
learning their experience, so I encouraged him to go on 
and tell me about it, which he did very graphically ; but 
the gist of the whole matter was, that he and others, 
eleven in all, were sixteen days in a boat, on only four 
gallons of water, and he did not suffer so much from thirst 
as he was then doing. 

" ' But, Turner, how could that be — you have much more 
now?' 

" ' Know it, sir. Can't tell, except I was kind of anx- 
ious, and I knowed it could n't be helped.? 

" ' Are you very thirsty now ?' 

" ' My tongue is like a dried shark's skin. Allowance 
gave out about four o'clock.' 

" I fortunately had some of my own allowance in a bot- 
tle in my room, which I sent for, and moistened Turner's 
shark-skin tono^ue. 



WATEB. G7 

"But that is not all," continued Boroihme ; "just now, 
before I left the deck — " 

However, as I can not tell the incident in the manner 
of my friend, I will tell it in my own. 

I must premise that this conversation occurred after we 
had left Ascension, where we had laid in a large supply 
both of water and green turtle. 

Green turtle soup ! After writing these words, reader, 
both you and I ought not to hurry on, but pause and think 
upon them, that is, if the flavor of the compound has ever 
rested upon your palate as it has upon mine — which I 
doubt. Rich in substantial gelatine, perfumed, gently 
perfumed, with varied spices, tinted with rosy wine, 
gemmed with emeralds of callipash, and garnished with 
golden lemons. We had a French cook, and such was 
the kind of soup our caterer gave us. But the men had 
turtle soup too — quasi turtle soup ; all except one mess. 

Just before my friend left the deck his attention was 
invited to a man standing at the mast with a big tin pan. 
All such conferences are held at the mast. It is the neu- 
tral ground between the quarter deck and the forecastle 
— the bar of impromptu justice, and the exchange where 
conflicting opinion meets. The Lieutenant walked for- 
ward and looked into the pan. On its bottom lay a tur- 
tle's bony and skinny fin, boiled to rags, and exhausted 
of juices. The man asked the ofiicer respectfully whether 
that was a suitable dinner for their mess. The officer 
did not think it was, and the ship's cook being sent for, 
explained that this mess had not contributed of their al- 
lowance of water to make the soup, and therefore the 
dry turtle flipper which they gave to him, he returned to 
them more dry and less substantial. 

"Why sir," quoted my friend with animation, as he 
concluded the story, "it was the play of Hamlet with 
Hamlet left out." 



68 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

The turtle flipper and the shark's tongue of Turner 
caused Boroihme to wish the allowance at an end. 
There was no real suffering, but the men w^ere uncom- 
fortable. 

All that kind of floating and unsubstantial gossip which 
on shore has its source m " on dit," and " they say," is 
on shipboard called "galley news." Reports from this 
quarter have reached us that we, instead of running our 
course, are running for rains. This I take to be a mere 
scandal, inasmuch as, in three days' loss of time, we might 
not catch one day's water. How^ever, whether running for 
rains or not we fell in them, and the waters of the skies 
intoxicated our ship's company. There was a tremendous 
excitement ; every man set up in the water line upon his 
own hook. The awnings were spread, and in their deep 
cavities the floods gathered. Every tub, pitcher, basin, 
bucket, bottle, or other vessel which would contain water 
was brought into use and stowed in our rooms. Our cells 
became water cells. 

That the allowance of water on shipboard is often di- 
minished without necessity, to the great detriment of 
health, the history of the service proves. It is too im- 
portant an element of existence to be at the caprices of a 
tyrannical disposition, or a monomaniacal folly. It should 
be made a solemn and important thing. The command- 
ing officer should convene a board of officers, of which 
the medical officer should be a member, and then, if this 
board does not concur in the propriety of diminishing 
the allowance, still let the commanding officer have the 
power of doing so, entering on the log, and reporting to 
the Department, his reasons for differing with the views 
of the board. 



SIMON'S BAY. 69 

VIII. 

SIMON'S BAY. 

Befoee we were led off by this water excursion, our 
last word was Hope. And hope was fulfilled. That fair 
breeze came gliding over the water, rippling its bright 
blue surface, and gemming it with sparkling spray. Be- 
fore it we swept on over the Southern ocean, and as we 
approached the southern continent we found the ocean 
rolling in long and magnificent swells. Without much 
wind, our ship running from three to five miles an horn- 
only, they came sweeping down, rolling and tossing us 
about terribly, and when the wind freshened, it seemed to 
raise supplemental hillocks of water upon the top of these 
swells. Looking over a large expanse of ocean, it had 
the appearance of smooth rolling hills, with lesser hills 
cresting their tops. Ports closed in darkness, rolling and 
staggering over this heaving ocean, we sped on our way. 
January 12th, 1856, was a white day in my geographical 
calendar, as it was then I, for the first time, rested my 
eyes upon the black continent whose people have given 
the world more political and religious trouble than their 
physical strength has ever given it aid. It was a white 
day, not only on account of this geographical wonder, 
but because, after thirty-one days of sea rolling and ship 
dietetics, we were to have the quiet of port, the fresh 
fruits of the earth, and to tread once more its solid, 
motherly bosom. When I went upon deck at an earlier 
hour in the morning than usual, there were the great 
rocky buttresses, the ragged mountains of South Africa, 
iutting out into the sea, which rolled in upon them from 
the pole, or, at nearest, the Antarctic continent. Table 
Mountain, and all the individualized and named peaks of 



70' THEVOYAGEOUT. 

this renowned Cape were in sight as we ran along the 
shores of " Good Hope," rounded its ^Dromontory, and 
entered the smooth green waters of Simon's Bay. There 
a few neat- looking English houses clustered on the beach, 
at the foot of the gray, naked mountain towering behind 
them. We cast our anchor in front of Simon's Town — 
of about one thousand inhabitants — another of the tap- 
ping-places of England's world-encircling drum. 

The anchor being down, then came all the bustle and 
preparation of an arrival in port. We tried to brighten 
up, mentally and vestimentally ; our better and brighter 
uniforms were put on, straw hats hung up, and laced and 
embroidered caps substituted. The marines w^ere brightly 
costumed, ready to be paraded as a guard of honor for 
any distinguished visitor; and such of them as stood 
sentry were placed on joost, musket in hand, at the gang- 
ways. The boats were lowered from their davits, and 
one of the lieutenants, in cocked hat and sword, dispatched 
to wait on the authorities and arrange the salutes. 

Various boats w^ere hurrying off to us. One was that 
of the health officer and harbor master, before whose visit 
we must not communicate with the shore. Another, 
with the United States flag flying, brought the American 
Consul. A third, w^ith a pennon in the bow, and the 
British ensign in the stern, brought a lieutenant from 
the English commodore's flag-ship, the Castor, to tender 
us the courtesies of the port. Then came the salutes, 
twenty-one guns for the British flag, and next thirteen 
guns for the British commodore, both of which were re- 
turned from the Castor, and we were fairly introduced. 

The salutes over, the string of small boats which had 
been lying astern to be out of the way of the guns, now 
pull up to the gangway, and theii* occupants, each one 
hurrying before his neighbor, climb the ship's side and 
step on board. There are provision dealers, grocers. 



SIMON'S BAY. 11 

tailors, bumboat men, wasliermen and women, zealous to 
show their cards and recommendations from preceding 
ships, and to secure the custom of the various messes. 
The bumboat man is the most useful of all these water 
merchants. He may be all in one. His boat is the ped- 
dling shop, the corner grocery to the people shut up on 
board the ship. At designated hours he comes alongside 
with his store of fresh fruits, fresh bread, cooked fish and 
meats, with tempting varieties of articles peculiar to the 
locality in which we may be. He is a convenience also 
for communicating with the shore, making purchases, and 
bringing off small packages, of which we all avail our- 
selves, preferring the independence of this private ar- 
rangement to the ifs and ands^ the cumbrous contin- 
gencies, the weighty concession which attends, so often, 
the getting the use of a ship's boat. Of course a man in 
such close association with the people of the ship must 
have the guarantee of a certain amount of reputable char- 
acter, or he may do much mischief by smuggling liquor 
and other improper articles on board. 

Upon this occasion a tall, slender, neatly dressed 
Malay, with a red Madras kerchief on his head, won the 
most general favor. He had a package of recommenda- 
tions from the officers of British and American men-of- 
war, and one of recent date from an Enghsh commodore, 
recommending him to the special favor of all British men- 
of-war, because he had supplied H. M. S. Nankin with 
provisions despite the anti-convict restrictions. A ship 
came here to land convicts — the settlement resisted the 
landing, and prohibited its citizens from furnishing sup- 
plies. Treacherous to his town and true to his pocket, 
the Malay, Tiffley Manuel, supplied the ship at midnight 
with every thing needful, even to bullocks. The convicts, 
however, were not landed. 

As one of our welcome-giving visitors sat in the 



72- THE VOYAGE OUT. 

cabin, pointing to a neighboring mountain, he said, " The 
Muizenberg has its cap on ; it 's going to blow fresh from 
the south-east before to-morrow morning, and you are 
lying so far out you will feel it." And such we found to 
be the case. Whenever the cloud cap gathered around 
the brow of the Muizenberg, the south-easters whistled 
through our rigging. We dropped another anchor, and 
our communication with the sliore was interrupted, diffi- 
cult and dangerous. 

The winds on the south-east coast of Africa are vio- 
lently fitful, changing instantly from south-east to north- 
west, without a moment's warning ; and our new acquaint- 
ances of the Cape were now mourning the melancholy 
destructiveness of these gales in the loss of the brig Ner- 
budda, which, having left Algoa Bay, had been hoped for 
from day to day, but never heard of. 

Such a disappearance of a ship into the mysterious depths 
of the ocean wdth her whole living crew — of those with 
whom you have been in recent association, and for whose 
return you confidently look — is one of the most painful 
manifestations of the terrors of the ocean. The very un- 
certainty of the moment gives a dark and gloomy freedom 
to the imagination, and it will pertinaciously call up the 
horrors of that moment when an entire community of 
familiar friends, in full life and vigor, and in the conscious- 
ness of an inevitable doom, sank beneath the ingulfing 
waves. Our own recent national and personal losses in 
the Porpoise and Albany, enabled us to sympathize with 
our new friends in the loss of the Nerbudda. But this 
south-east wind has its compensations: its tempestuous 
flight bears heahng on its wings. Blowing from the cold 
regions of the south, it is found to purify the atmosphere, 
and drive away disease. Although Simon's Bay has the 
annoyance of this wind, Simon's Town owes its existence 
to its being sheltered from the fierce winds which roll the 



SIMON'S BAT. 73 

Atlantic in before Table Bay and Cape Town. It is also 
the site of the government dockyard, and the anchorage 
of the government shipping. 

We are now receiving some of the physical compen- 
sations of our sea existence. Those things which are an 
ever present and little appreciated circumstance of shore 
life, came to us as a lucky accident ; we were therefore 
much gratified at seeing our table, on the first day of 
our arrival, loaded with plums, pears and melons ; pyra- 
mids of purple and white grapes, and most delicious 
peaches. We were now comfortable enough to afford 
some pity for our distant friends who were housed from 
the winds and snows of a northern winter. 

Without going out of the ship we can supply our tables 
with most delicious fish. A line over the ship's side will 
reward the most exacting fisherman. Solid, substan- 
tial, silver-scaled Cape salmon, weighing from fifteen to 
eighteen pounds, were nightly taken in numbers from 
the waters alongside the ship, and enlivened the night 
watches by flapping the deck, as they were one after an- 
other thrown upon it. This lordly fellow was only one 
among many smaller fry. But there was death in the 
pot. 

Upon our first arrival the harbor master placed in my 
hands the following printed paper : 

Caution. 

There is a fish in Simon's Bay, commonly called Toad Fish ; it 
is about six inches long, back dark, with deep black stripes ; belly 
white, with faint yellow patches ; it swims near the surface, and 
is a constant attendant on lines employed fishing. When taken 
fi-om the water, it puffs out considerably. Should any portion 
of this fish be eaten, death ensues in a few minutes. 

W. P. Jamison, Harbor Master. 
Port Office, Simon's Town, November 22, 1848. 

4 



74 - THEVOYAGEOUT. 

Although we have not yet j^ut onr feet on shore, we are 
reminded that we are in Africa by the advertisements of 
some local papers which have found their way on board. 
"Rhinoceros horns — ostrich eggs and feathers — ^basket 
and drinking-cups made of ostrich eggs — Kaffir karasses, 
and native weapons of various tribes — lion, tiger, and 
other skins — a fine live tiger, and a variety of articles too 
numerous to particularize." 

We must go ashore and see all these things, and more. 
I hope the reader will go with us, heljD us make our car- 
riage bargain, and see things as we saw them, Httle and 
big. The south-easter had puffed itself out and left a 
smooth time, when, in the early morning. Commodore 
Armstrong, Lieutenant Kutledge and I, with carpet-bags 
and valises, started for the shore and a journey to Cape 
Town. 

The proprietor of horses and carriages expected us, 
and was awaiting our arrival with a cart and horses 
ready harnessed — a cart on two wheels, with yellow 
painted canvas cover, but fortunately a cart on springs. 

" What are we to pay?" 

"Two pun ten sir" — two pounds ten shillings — "for 
Cape Town and back." The distance is twenty-four 
miles. 

" How much to leave us there, and we find our own 
way back ?" 

" Same, sir. Two pun ten." 

" How much time do you give us there ?" 

" Forty-eight hours from starting — we keep the horses. 
Ten shillings a-day for all detention over that." 

" Very weU." 

We stow our luggage, take our seats, a native Sierra 
Leone negro, with teeth filed sharp, mounts the fourth 
seat as driver, and while the bright sun is gleaming on 
the water, and lifting the misty night-caps from the bald 



SIMON'SBAY. 75 

mountain-heads, we rattle out of Simon's Town, shaking 
the Kngering slumber from the eyes of the few enterpris- 
ing individuals who came to their doors and windows to 
see what was going on. The first thing we ran against 
was an institution of civilization — a toll-gate — sixpence. 
There were two others on our road. But what do we 
pay for ? Here we are rolling over a better road than 
man could ever build, made by that Power, and at the 
same time, who lifted these rugged, rocky, bare, gray 
mountains, close on our left hand, from the ocean depths ; 
a broad, level, white, firm sand beach, which for myriads 
of ages has been daily relaid by that same flowing tide 
which is now gently rippling over and washing out our 
wheel-tracks and hoof-marks. But we come to the end 
of our sea-washed road, and then we find that our road- 
tax is not for nothing. Over the point of high land which 
juts out into the sea, a fine macadamized road has been 
built. We have, however, two other fine bay beaches, 
with intervening points of high land. Along all this part 
of the road there is nothing to attract our attention from 
the wild grandeur of nature. Here and there a thatched 
fisherman's hut, or on the edge of a bank overlooking the 
bay, a small stone house, as a look-out for whales. As 
we proceed, and the settlement thickens, we notice a pecu- 
Har fence surrounding the inclosures — symmetrical white 
posts tapering toward the ground, and, in some places, 
more slender arches, with one end on the ground and the 
other curving up to and supporting a light wicker fence. 
All these are whalebones — the post the heavier, and the 
outside curving supports the lighter, ribs. Some fanciful 
individuals, standing two of the largest ribs erect, and 
bringing their tapering points together, had made pointed 
arches for gateway entrances. 

We are now approaching a village, Kalk Bay, and the 
air is loaded with odors — an ancient and fish-like smell — 



76 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

that of codfish. As we enter the village, we see on all 
hands the source of the smell and the settlement, in heaps 
and i^iles of dried fish — Cape salmon. There were kilns 
for drying them artificially, and wagons in which they 
were loaded, piled up like shingles. They are largely ex- 
ported to the interior, and supplied to the shipping. 
Kalk Bay is also a hygeian resort for the invalids of the 
city, who come here to inhale fresh from the water the 
salutary breezes of the south-east wind. 

Leaving Kalk Bay, our road takes us from the water- 
side, our gray rocky mountains recede further to the left, 
and do not threaten us witli an avalanche of the great 
masses which, pivot-hung, appear ready to crash down 
into the road. On either hand we have a dry, sandy 
plain, greened over with an undergrowth of strange and 
varied vegetation. It would be terrible on such a hot 
day as this, the 16th of January, to have dragged our cart 
through such a heavy, sandy soil as this around us, but 
thanks to our road maker, we are rolling still over a hard, 
smooth, red macadamized highway, and therefore at the 
Muizenberg gate, we pay our sixpence with grateful, 
and, I hope, graceful freedom. Over the sandy j)lain to 
our left, where it approaches the slopes of the mountains, 
we notice several large white houses or country seats, 
surrounded by a richer vegetation, from which roUs up, 
in long round swells, the oak groves and avenues which 
bower in the houses of the vineyards of Constancia. I 
hope we shall see them more closely before getting back 
to Simon's Bay. 

Having reached Rathfelder's, a neat wayside inn, we 
stopped an hour for breakfast, and to rest our horses. 
Our table was here suppUed with finer grapes and peaches 
than we had yet seen, and we found some interest in 
talking through his large, rich, and well-cultivated gar- 
den of varied fruits and substantial vegetables. We here 



SIMON'SBAT. VV 

toa saw, for the first time, in his slaughter-house, the car- 
casses of several of the peculiar Cape sheep, with the 
enormous broad masses of fat, of several pounds' weight, 
forming the tail. Subsequently meeting several flocks of 
these sheep, I was surprised to notice how little unwieldy 
and cumbrous these fatty masses appeared, terminating 
in a taper extremity slightly curved up. 

Associating, as we do, thd short woolly hair with the 
dark African skin, my attention was arrested by the very 
black skins of the female servants, combined with a beau- 
tiful delicacy of feature, and long black glossy hair. They 
were Malays, or rather a mixture of Malay and negro. 
Most of the colored women we saw were of this character. 
They are great favorites as domestics, having more docihty, 
intelligence, and finer sensibilities than the negro. 

From this pleasant half-way house on to Cape Town 
the country wonderfully improves. The road is beauti- 
ful — a shaded avenue, passing between rows of pine 
trees, and under an arched arbor of oaks. Farms, plan- 
tations and vineyards cover the country ; and around the 
village of Rondebosh, near which is the residence of the 
Governor, Sir George Grey, are gathered pleasant coun- 
try seats. 

The road, too, is an animated picture for us. Speci- 
mens of various negro tribes and Malays, with English 
and Dutch laborers, are pursuing their way on foot. 

What is this approaching us — a forest of horns ? One 
— two — three — four — five — six — seven — eight pair of 
oxen in a single team — long horns and broadly-extended 
horns, three to four feet between the ti23S, yoked to one 
little, and what would be with us a one-h^rse wagon ! 
We are meeting many of these little wagons, with pyra- 
mid-hatted Malay drivers — some of them, instead of oxen, 
have eight mules, donkeys, or horses. Amid this throng 
of laboring vehicles come rolling along English carriages, 



78 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

with servants in livery, and some stiff and stately John 
Bull inside — Cockneydom grafted upon Africa. I am 
not responsible for this ill-natured insinuation. It came 
from one among themselves. Aristocracy, he said, ran 
tremendously high among the placemen and successful 
adventurers of the colony One of the latter, wishing to 
be particularly distinguished, upon achieving fortune sent 
home to London an order for the most expensive books 
and most expensive wines. " Of course," remarked my 
informant, " he was no gentleman, but only a Cockney. 
For wines they sent him the Constancia which had gone 
home from his very door." 

Occasionally, in these stately little liveried vehicles, we 
were cheered by the sight of neatly dressed English la- 
dies, and could not refrain from the courtesy of a bow to 
that sex which has the most undoubted right to take airs 
upon itself 

Among so many vehicles, and tramping and driving, 
the red, iron-rust-colored dust of the road began to be an- 
noying, and we were glad to find ourselves, after a four 
hours' journey, driving past the barracks, with its rolling 
drums and red-coated soldiers, and through the substan- 
tial English streets of Cape Town, and dismounted at the 
Masonic Hotel. A nearer look at the "Table Mountain" 
and the "Lion's Rump" and "Head" — a stroll through 
the city — a look out upon Table Bay and its shipping — ^a 
walk through the Botanical Garden, and beneath the mile 
long oak avenue, a thousand old oaks, of the government 
grounds — a visit to the museum of native animals — genial 
evenings at the hospitable tables of those gentlemen who 
kindly looked us up — visits to the curiosity shops ; — these 
made up the sum of our occupation in Cape Town, which 
has between twenty and thirty thousand inhabitants. 
But it is the metropolis of a colony destined to a great 
future, toward which it is making rapid strides. It has a 



SIMON'S BAT. 19 

similitude to our own country in tlie phenomenon of a 
European civilization pressing for two hundred years upon, 
and pressing back, and out of existence, ferocious, bar- 
barous tribes — carrying its frontier against those tribes, 
and against the most ferocious and powerful wild beasts 
and reptiles — the lion, the leopard, and the cobra — until, 
it is arrested by the arid desert. 

There is much to interest every man who thinks at all, 
every thing to interest the American in the social and po- 
litical features of this colony. 

By Dutch and English the colony has now been settled 
for over two hundred years ; for over forty years it has 
been an English possession ; and the act for the abolition 
of slavery in all British territories was carried into effect 
over twenty years ago. 

Besides the old original Cape district, by conquest and 
by occupation twenty other districts have been added. 
The wilderness, once the possession of the Hottentot and 
quadrupedal savages, is now covered with grain fields, 
orchards, and vineyards producing the most luscious of 
wines ; farms yielding that which is literally the " golden 
fleece" of the colony — wool, whose increase of export has 
gone on from a few thousand pounds to many and increas- 
ing millions, and whose progressive increase is beyond 
estimate. Yet, amid all these farmers, plantation pro- 
prietors, and wool-growers, where is the aboriginal in- 
habitant ? Is he of them ? He is the servant of servants, 
the laborer to Dutch laboring Boers, or he is a child-kill- 
ing, parent-slaying savage. These facts should be sugges- 
tive to the theoretical philanthropists, who are regulating 
the social problems of the age by the benevolence of their 
own hearts. The free and protected black British citi- 
zens of Cape Colony are yielding their lands to the farms 
and vineyards of the white man, and the world and civil- 
ization are the gainers. 



80 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Twenty of the districts, we found, have grown out of 
the original Cape settlement, and sought their varied 
fortunes up the eastern and western coasts, and in the in- 
terior of the African continent. A glance at these various 
districts wiU give us a more definite idea of the pres- 
ent character and future destiny of this part of the con- 
tinent, and we shall be drawing near to two strange re- 
publics : 

The Cape Division has the metropolis, fine farms, va- 
rious manufactures, extensive fisheries, and the Constan- 
cia vineyards. 

Malmesbuey is called the granary of the colony, from 
its cereal abundance, and is distinguished by a warm min- 
eral spring. 

Stellenbosch. — Simon Vander Stell, the Governor, 
founded the town of this district in 1681. It is, there- 
fore, one of the oldest in the colony. It is a populous 
and productive district, of picturesque and varied scenery, 
and fertile vineyards. 

Paakl is another rich vineyard district. The wine of 
Paarl village is considered the best made in the colony. 
The sweet wine nearly equals the celebrated Constancia. 
I am tempted to quote the flattering account of Paarl, 
from its resemblance to some local paper's account of some 
village in Kansas or Nebraska : " This village makes ex- 
cellent progress. Two banks have already been estab- 
lished, and landed property is rising." 

WoECESTEK gives us cool summers, frosty winters, and 
the finest flavored apples, pears, and cherries. 

Clan William. — Herds, tobacco, rice, copper, mineral 
springs, hat factories, and cedar boards. 

Geoege. — Wool, butter, aloes, grain, cattle. It has a 
safe bay and wonderful caverns. 

Beaueoet. — Principally grazing, skins and ostrich fea- 
thers. 



SIMON'S BAT. 81 

Albany. — A pastoral district, more populous than any 
other at the Cape, and has in it the flourishiug city, Gra- 
ham's Town. 

Fort Beaufoet. — We are now drawing near to Kaffir- 
land, but still this division has some of the finest sheep 
and grain farms in the colony, several of which are worth 
from twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars. 

The district of Stockenstrom, in this division, is of the 
most interesting and remarkable character. " It may, in 
general terms, be described as- a basin encircled by a 
chain of mountains, from which issue the numerous 
streams that give fertility to the soil, and render it so 
eligible for a numerous population. 

" This district was formerly occupied wholly by Hotten- 
tots, but, in consequence of the large number of its in- 
habitants (one half at least) who jomed in the late rebel- 
lion, the Governor, Sir George Cathcart, at the end of 
the war," had steps taken to break up an exclusively na- 
tional settlement — a measure (i. e. the settlement) which 
his excellency considered to have proved not only a fail- 
ure, but was attended with dangerous and inconvenient 
consequences, prejudicial alike to the inhabitants them- 
selves and to the community at large. 

" From the town of Fort Beaufort can be seen a long 
rang« of dark and rugged hills, fringed with wood, and 
intersected by dark and precipitous ravines, and over- 
looking the country to this place, from which it is not 
generally more than five miles distant, as the crow flies. 
Here it was that Macomo and the rebel Hottentots took 
up their abode during the war, and here likewise has been 
the scene of the various conflicts and disasters which had 
for so long a time followed the attempts to expel the 
enemy."* 

Graap Reinet. — Wool and cattle are the chief pro- 
* Cape Almanac. 
4* 



82 • THE VOYAGE OUT. 

ducts — principally wool. Large tracts of country in this 
division are entirely destitute of wood, the farmers using 
cattle dung for fuel. This is dug out of the kraals when 
softened by rain ; it is then cut into square pieces and 
stacked, as is done with turf or peat in many parts of 
Great Britain. When sufficiently dry it is preferred, as 
fuel, to wood, giving a stronger heat, and causing less 
trouble. It is frequently used by blacksmiths at the 
ibrge, instead of coal. 

Game of all kinds is plentiful — sometimes far too su- 
perabundant. Long droughts in the interior compel the 
spring-bok to forsake the extensive j)lains which are then 
its favorite haunts, and to migrate into the colony. This 
it occasionally does in such incredible numbers that their 
visit is felt as a serious calamity — the herbage being en- 
tirely consumed by them. The capital of the division is 
a beautiful tillage, planted on each side with lemon trees, 
interspersed with the acacia and Ceylon rose. 

CoLESBUEGH lies north, on the Orange River. In 
cattle, sheep and horses it is the richest in the colony, 
although subject to violent snow storms. 

These notes, condensed from the Cape Almanac, en- 
able us to form some idea of the general character and 
resources of the country. We now pass on to the 

SOYEREiaNTT 

on Orange River, to the north of which it lies. It is 
three hundred and seventy-five miles from south to 
north. "In 1836 it was described by Sir C. W. Harris as 
a trackless desert, a howhng wilderness, a land in which, 
though thinly populated by skulking hordes of Bushmen, 
and by the starving remnants of nomadic pastoral tribes 
which had been broken up by war and violence, no 
man permanently dwelt, neither was the soil any man's 



SIMON'S BAT. 83 

property — a land in which for hundreds of miles the eye 
was not greeted by the smallest trace of human industry, 
or by any vestige of human habitation — the wild and in- 
terminable expanse ever presenting the same appearance 
— that of one vast^ uninhabited solitude.'''' This tract is 
generally a heavy grazing country. It is now occupied 
^y fine farms and a flourishing population, making large 
exports of wool, and sending its droves even to Cape Col- 
ony. It is well watered, abounds in mill seats, produces 
various grains and fruits, and coal is found among its as 
yet little known mineral productions. Its towns and 
villages have their school houses, churches of various 
denominations, club houses and theatres. And this is 
an independent, self-governing, republican sovereignty. 
Independent by the voluntary act of the British author- 
ities, and adjoining it, beyond the river Yaal is the 

TRANS YAAL, OR DUTCH REPUBLIC. 

Although expediency, and even necessity, beget much 
alliance and social union between the original Dutch 
population and the more recent English graft, still there 
is a marked line of uncongeniality, composed of contempt 
on the part of the English, and a mitigated dislike upon 
the part of the Dutch. Many years ago, Andries Wil- 
helmus, Jacobus Pretorius emigrated from the colony*i 
to seek a home, as many of his countrymen had done, 
in the wilderness, away from all interference by British 
authority. He went to N'atal, when the country was 
independent of the British government. But British 
authority pursued the emigrant farmers in that retreat. 
A conflict ensued between the British troops and Dutch 
farmers, led by Pretorius. He was eventually defeated. 
The British government took possession of the country, 
chiefly, if not solely, with a view of protecting the natives., 
and a price was set upon his head. 



84 ' THEVOYAGEOUT. 

He was subsequently pardoned, and resided at Natal 
several years under the administration of Lieutenant 
Governor West. He complained bitterly of the en- 
croachments of the natives in the neighborhood, and 
upon his property, and traveled by land to Graham's 
Town to represent his grievances to Sir H. Pottinger, 
but that governor did not admit him even to a private 
audience. He afterwards saw Sir Harry Smith whilst 
this governor was on his way to Natal, and was after- 
wards very indignant when he heard Sir Harry had pro- 
claimed the Sovereignty British territory — his version of 
the interview, as reported at the time, being, that that 
governor had promised not to do so unless the majority 
of the residents in that country were in favor of the 
measure — which majority, Pretorius declared, were not 
in favor of it. It will probably never be known with 
accuracy what passed between Sir Harry Smith and 
Pretorius, but the result of making the Sovereignty a 
British possession led Pretorius to invite his countrymen 
to take up arms, and the result was the battle of Boom- 
plaats, since which time the country has not been dis- 
turbed by the Dutch emigrants. After this battle, Preto- 
rius appears to have lived very quietly at Magoliesburgh, 
notwithstandmg that a price was again set upon his 
head, and to have busied himself with endeavoring to 
consolidate a Dutch republic beyond the Yaal. He con- 
tinued to be thus occupied until Major Hogge and Mr. 
Owen were associated with Sir Harry Smith, and subse- 
quently he was again pardoned, and then was made the 
convention with him which acknowledged the indepen- 
dence of the Trans Vaal republic. In this convention 
the darling wish of his heart, which he had nourished for 
years, appears to have been gratified. He had wished 
all his lifetime to establish an independent Dutch State in 
southern Africa, and had at length succeeded. This re- 



SIMOjS-'SBAT. 85 

public, with its own President and laws, still exists, and is 
the second independent State adjoining the British pos- 
sessions in southern Africa. 

Honest-hearted American patriots, who are devoting 
themselves to the abolition of slavery in the United 
States, must have their confidence in the sincerity and 
jprinciple of their English coadjutors very much shaken 
by the testimony of Lord Palmerston before a commit- 
tee of Parliament — that Euglish West India sugar grow- 
ing interests are opposed to the existence of slavery in 
other nations ; and the inconsistency of English states- 
men upon this unhappy subject is prominent in the 
fact that both these republics are slave States. They 
are to all intents English States. N"o one can for a 
moment believe that England would permit their inde- 
pendence, if it were not convenient to do so. By per- 
mitting it, the boast of no slave foot upon English soil is 
maintained, in name. The independence of any small and 
weak State adjoining English military territory and power 
would be a phenomenon ; the independence of such a 
State, with the ports of export and import in the pos- 
session of the English, is a farce. 

An English local writer, speaking of the government 
of the free State, says, " We now expect that the laws 
(except with regard to slavery) will be as well, if not 
more efficiently carried out as under the English govern- 
ment." Speaking of the aggressive wars of the citizens 
of these republics over the Yaal River, this writer says, 
"Wars are there made for the express purpose of captur- 
ing children, and kidnapping is carried on in many parts. 
The consequence of this will in all probability be that the 
thin vail which has been cast over slavery by calling it 
the sale of services, or indentures, will soon be thrown 
away, and that they will keep them in bondage for their 
lifetime, and sell their children and children's children, 



8b • THE VOYAGE OUT. 

and as the interest of the people in this system or trade 
increases, laws will be made from time to time protective 
of it. 

" But one thing is plain, that if England does not use 
the influence in South Africa which God has given her, 
to put a stop to slavery, it will become a thorn in her 
side which will cause her much trouble yet. 

" It is the policy of the government, in order to avoid 
future Kaffir wars, in order to prove to them that we 
wish to deal justly by them, and that we are actuated by 
high and Christian pMnciples. Our permitting and coun- 
tenancing slavery on our borders will give this the lie, 
and embitter them against us. They will say, ' We inter- 
fere when the blacks steal cattle from the whites, and 
then countenance the whites when they steal children 
from the blacks.' 

" I stated before that no clergyman, to my knowledge, 
had hitherto risked his reputation or influence in that 
part of South Africa, by preaching or speaking to their 
flocks about slavery, or about the duties of the white 
Christians to instruct the black heathen in their house- 
holds, or to look upon them as human, soul-possessing 
beings." 

There are three distinct types of negro to be found in 
Cape Colony. The thick-lipped, sturdy, woolly-headed 
prominent-chinned, flat-nosed Congo, or West Coast Ne- 
gro — the equally black, tall, graceful, delicately-featured 
Kaffir and Zulo, and the diminutive, light yellow, thin, 
tufty-headed Hottentot and Bushman, and who presents 
other peculiar physical formations, it would be as difficult 
to educe from external causes, as it would be to produce by 
these causes the analogical fat-tailed sheep of the Cape of 
Good Hope. 



WIKE AND WELCOME. 87 

IX. 

WINK AND ^WELCOME. 

Haying seen such sights and learned such facts as our 
short stay in Cape Town permitted, our cart was ordered 
up and we took our departure for Simon's Bay. Our re- 
turn to this place was to be varied by a ride through the 
village of Wynberg, and a visit to the vineyard of Con- 
stancia. 

After we had passed through, Wynberg, and had some 
ecstacies, such as are incident to sailors on shore, over its 
rural charms and prettily embowered houses, we found 
ourselves on the road to the residence of Mr. Cloete, the 
proprietor of the Constancia estate, and began to think it 
would be better had we the claim of some note or letter 
of introduction. As, however, our intention was to get 
permission merely to walk through the vineyard, and 
not to intrude ourselves upon the family, we came to 
the conclusion that, as we could not help ourselves, it 
was just as well as it was, by the time our cart trundled 
into an avenue of noble old oaks and brought up in front 
of Mr. Cloete's large and comfortable-looking mansion. 

A Malay servant came to the door; received our 
cards ; promptly threw open the drawing-room doors 
with a manner which showed that a prompt welcome was 
the rule of the house. Crouched upon the floor, upon 
one side of this room, was the stuffed skin of the largest 
and finest-looking leopard I ever saw. Its hide was of 
the brightest yellow with the blackest spots, and it was 
well and naturally set up. We had scarcely more than 
.glanced at these things when two young ladies entered 
the room, welcoming us with graceful courtesy, and say- 
ing that their father, who would be in presently, would 



88 ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

be delighted at our calling, without waiting for the visit 
he intended to pay us. Soon after, Mr. Cloete, a fine 
specimen of the colonial Dutch gentleman, entered the 
room and gave us a welcome as cordial and courteous as 
that of his daughters had been graceful. One after the 
other entering the room, we found ourselves at home with 
this very agreeable family, and almost forgot the vineyard. 
Showing the way to the vineyard, Mr. Cloete explained 
to us the character of the grapes from which the four 
kinds of Constancia wines are made. The dry Pontac or 
Cape port ; the sweet Pontac, a black, rich, sweet wine ; 
and two beautifully ruby-looking wines, sweet and cor- 
dial-like to the taste, called Frontignac, and I think white 
Constancia. It is difficult for any one familiar with the 
spirituous taste of most wines, to believe that any such 
rich syruj^y fluids can be produced from the grape alone, 
without the addition of sugar. But such is the fact. 
The grapes are permitted to almost wilt upon the vines 
before they are plucked, and to facilitate this sacchariz- 
iug process the leaves are thinned from the vines. One 
accustomed to the mode of raising the grape in use 
with us, would scarcely recognize a Cape of Good Hope 
vineyard. At a little distance he would not distinguish 
it from a potato field — the vines being not over three 
feet high, bunches of fresh shoots supported on old 
knotty, venerable, gray looking stocks, many of which 
were probably as old as the vineyard, and this was near 
two hundred years of age, having been planted by one 
of the first governors, and gallantly called after his wife, 
"Constancia." These old Dutch governors must have 
been gallant knights, from the honors paid their wives ; 
the division of Stellenbosch being called after the then 
governor himself, and the Maiden Bosch who became 
Madam Van der Stell, and Graef Reinet from Governor 
Glraef, and his good wife Reinet. The days of chivalry 



WINE AKD WELCOME. 89 

were then, when these old gray wine stocks were new, 
and Constancia first flowed in ruby sweetness. It was 
better, however, Mr. Cloete told me, not to have the vines 
over one hundred years old — a vineyard of one hundred 
thousand vines should have a thousand renewed every 
year. 

"Waving his hand over a tract of a few acres, our host 
remarked, that in this tract alone, and in no other place, 
is raised the genuine original Constancia. Pointing to 
an adjoining field he remarked, " I can extend that vine- 
yard as much as I please, but it will not, no matter what 
grape is used, produce ' Constancia' wine." I supposed, 
at the time, that this opinion might have been the result 
of partiality for his own homestead, but others testified 
to the same fact. An English gentleman — a competing 
planter — observed to me, " That is true : the Constancia is 
grown only there ; but wines of the same character, and 
so near in quality, that scarcely any one can distinguish 
them, are grown upon other estates." It will also be 
noticed what is said, in the preceding description of the 
districts, on the wines of Paarl. 

From the vineyard we took our way to the wine store, 
a neat, orderly, cool, white-washed stone building, deco- 
rated by a classic relief over the main entrance. Inside it 
was but an avenue between two ranges of immense orna- 
mentally fronted butts, with polished brass cocks, each 
containing twelve hundred gallons. A capacious en- 
trance, for cleaning these butts, was made by an oblong 
opening cut through the central plank of the head, with 
the edge so beveled that the smaller opening was exter- 
nal, and the pressure from within tightened the gate, 
which was also drawn firm by a screw passing through a 
bar. A servant brought us glasses, and we tasted on the 
spot each of the four kinds of costly Constancia. The 
nature of these wines would have pleased Athenseus, who, 



90 THEVOYAGEOUT. 

in his " Banquet of the Learned," says, " But that which 
is sweet, (as is the case with even white and yellow wine 
also,) is the most nutritious of all, for it softens all the 
ducts and passages, and thickens the fluid parts of the 
body, and does not at all confuse the head. For in 
reality the nature of sweet wine lingers about the ribs, 
and engenders spittle as Diodes and Pythagoras assert." 

We have, in these modern days, a sufficiently wide 
range of wine taste, from the pale acid wines of the 
Rhine through claret to Port and Madeira, and from 
these to the rich syrups of the Cape of Good Hope, by 
the side of which grows also a delicately flavored Hock. 
But these old sensual heathens had such medicated wine 
tastes as to indicate a medicinal purpose in their wine 
drinking. 

Athenseus again tells us, " Now the wines which have 
been carefully prepared with sea-water never cause head- 
aches," and produce certain wholesome efl*ects. " But 
Theophrastus says, that the wine of Thaos is wonder- 
fully delicious, for it is well seasoned ; for they knead up 
dough and honey, and put that into the earthern jars, so 
that the wine receives fragrance from itself and sweet- 
ness from the honey." 

But with all this mixing of sea water and dough, the 
poets of those days had to sing " Temperance," if not 
" Total Abstinence," songs. It seems to have been the 
idea of Eubulus that three glasses of wiae were enough 
for any man, as he introduces Bacchus, as saying, 

" Let them three parts of wine all duly season, 
"With nine of water, who 'd preserve their reason ; 
The first gives health, the second sweet desire ; 
The third tranquillity and sleep inspire : 
These are the wholesome draughts which wise men please, 
"Who from the banquet home return in peace. 
From a fourth measure insolence proceeds : 



WINE AND WELCOME. 91 

Uproar a fifth ; a sixth wild license breeds ; 
A seventh brings black eyes and livid bruises ; 
The eighth the constable next introduces ; 
Black gall and hatred lurk the ninth beneath ; 
The tenth is madness, arms, and fearful death, 
For too much wine poured in one little vessel, 
Trips up all those who seek with it to wrestle." 

Yeiy good advice of Mr. Bacchus ; and as the three 
glasses of wine imply three tumblers of water, they may 
very safely be taken, we think. 

Having seen the wonders of the wine store, we pro- 
posed taking leave of the family and continuing our way, 
but Mr. Cloete had had the horses taken out of our cart, 
and prohibited all such movements by saying we were 
all now going in to " tiffin" — for already do they begin to 
talk East Indian — and so in to tiffin we went. Our ar- 
rival had hit a happy occasion. A large number of his 
very large relationship, including nephews and nieces, 
had met at Mr. Cloete's house to celebrate his birthday, 
and upon our return we found the whole party assembled 
in the drawing-room, not stiff and stately, but easy, joy- 
ous, and chatty ; so unconscious of the presence of stran- 
gers that we forgot we were such. 

"Tiffin" seems a light and ethereal sort of a name 
enough, but call it, more substantially, lunch, and yet the 
word does not give a correct idea to our minds of the 
full meal which it really is — in fact one of our most solid 
family dinners. 

We had hot meats and vegetables, ale and wine, fol- 
lowed by preserves and the most delicious peaches, mel- 
ons, and grapes of " Constancia." 

The magni-ficent leopard we had noticed on the floor, 
Mr. Cloete told us he had shot himself, about twelve 
miles from his house, and shot him with buck-shot, when 
the distance between the parties was little more than two 



92 THEVOTAGEOUT. 

gun lengths, and the leopard crouched on a limb ready 
for a spring. But in pleasant social intercourse and an- 
ecdotes of colonial Ufe, 

"As bees flee hame wi' lades of treasure, 
The minutes winged their way with pleasure ; 
Nae man can tether time nor tide ; 
The hour approaches, we maun ride." 

And therefore, taking leave of this agreeable family, we 
once more trundled on in our cart to Simon's Bay, much 
of our talk being of the enjoyment which a courteous hos- 
pitality had thrown into a few hours of our wanderings, 
and making those unknown to us yesterday, associated 
for the future with pleasant memories. 

There is, necessarily, an intercourse of formal courtesy 
in our association abroad with the official representatives 
of foreign powers and the members of services correspond- 
ing to our own, with whom we may come into contacti 
With every nation but the English, this formality scarcely' 
ever becomes any thing else ; but with the English, our 
relations are scarcely ever stationary. They run into in- 
timate friendship or strong repulsion, and the whole dif- 
ference may depend upon the most trivial and accidental 
circumstances of a first meeting. The tempers and pe- 
culiarities of the individual who makes the first official 
call, either freezes our association into the stiffisned for- 
mality by no means agreeable or congenial to any party, 
tinges it with bitterness, or throws down the barriers of 
national diflierence, and mingles us in such friendly union 
that we are almost inclined to ask, occasionally, whether a 
diffi3rent flag flies over us. The latter was the character 
of our associations with the naval authorities of the Cape, 
The time, and the purposes of politicians, were then 
threatening a hostile conflict between ourselves and those 
from whom we were then receiving so many cordial kind- 



WINE AND WELCOME. 93 

n esses and courtesies. Having ridden over from Cape 
Town to Simon's Bay npon a day when there had been 
an arrival from Europe bringing, in all the papers, the 
letters of Caleb Cashing and the articles of the London 
Times, we found some of our English friends, including 
three lieutenants of the Royal Navy, awaiting our ar- 
rival, with a comfortable dinner — a desirable terminus to 
a ride of twenty-four miles. In mid-meal, and its social 
friendships, I mentioned the recent war news : it fell with 
startlmg effect upon this little group. One of the party 
was proud of a medal given him by the Congress of the 
United States for deeds of courageous humanity ; and the 
others had survived the battle of Inkermann, and other 
Crimean horrors. One of these remarked, 

" It will be hard, if after associating so pleasantly and 
so friendly together, they set us to cutting each other's 
throats." 

I think that EngHsh oflScers do not interest themselves 
so much as we do in the politics which may place them 
in hostile positions with other nations. 

" What 's it all about ?" said one. " I do not under- 
stand what we are to fight for. I know we do not want 
your country, and I sujDpose you do not want ours." 

I explained to him the mysteries of foreign enhstment, 
San Juan, Cuba, etc., as well as I could. He was a true 
man, a bold, yet modest, bluff, and single-hearted sailor, 
by no means given to sentimentality ; and hence almost 
picturesque was the deep sadness which fell over his 
strongly marked face, as he laid down his knife, leaned 
on the table, and bowed his head, and in a meditative 
manner, as if thinking aloud, said, 

" Alas ! alas ! they do n't know the horrors of such a 
war. If they did, they would be careful how they bring 
it about." 

As the following concluding correspondence between 



94 . THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Commodore, now Admiral, Trotter, and Commodore 
Armstrong, has a semi-official character, I can see no im- 
propriety in its insertion here. 

" United States Flag Ship San Jacinto, 
"Sdion's Bay, January 28, 1856. 
" My Dear Commodoee, 

"I should have done myself the honor to have 
made you a call this morning, but pressing duties have 
prevented me from doing so. 

" I embrace this occasion to thank you officially and 
personally for the assistance rendered this ship, and for 
the many civilities extended to myself and officers since 
our arrival at Simon's Bay. 

" Have the kindness to present my respectful compli- 
ments to your lady and niece. 

" Believe me your 

" Obliged friend and 
" Obedient servant, 

" James Armsteong, 

" Commanding United States Naval Forces, 
" East India and China Seas." 

" Commodoee Teottee, 

" Commanding Her Majesty's Naval Forces and Station, 

" Simon's Bay, 
" Cape of Good Hope." 



" Her Majesty's Ship Castor, 

"Simon's Bay, 2%fh January, 1856. 
" My Deae Commodoee, 

" I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of this date, and I beg most sincerely to thank 
you for the kind manner in which you are good enough 
to express yourself in reference to the little assistance it 
has been in our power to afford the ' San Jacinto,' and 
to the endeavors to make your stay here agreeable. 



MAUEITIUS. ,95 

" Permit me to say, and I express the feeling not only 
of myself and family and the officers of the squadron, but 
of the community in general, that your visit has been an- 
especia] pleasure to us all, and Mrs. Trotter and my niece 
beg me to say how much they regret not having had the 
pleasure of seeing you once more. 

" Wishing you a pleasant voyage, and every success 
and happiness in your interesting and important com- 
mand, 

" I beg you -will believe me very truly, 
" And vsdth much respect, 
" Your obliged friend and humble servant, 
"H. D. Teottee, 

"Commodore, Commanding Her Majesty's Naval Forces 
" on the Cape of Good Hope^tation. 
" COMMODOEE AeMSTEOI^G, 
" Commanding tlie United States 

•' Naval Forces in the East India and China Seas, etc., etc." 



X. 



MAURITIUS. 

On the 28th of January we sailed from Simon's Bay, 
and passed into the Indian Ocean, bound for Mauritius. On 
the evening of the following day the wind freshened, the sea 
dashed in shorter waves and with more angry fury ; every 
thing set was close-reefed, and things looked like the be- 
ginning of a gale. As the night closed darkly over us the 
sea foamed and roared wildly around us ; but every thing 
was snug and comfortable inboard. The jib had been 
hauled down, and the captain of the forecastle sent some 
forecastle hands out to stow it. Among them was an 
Irish boy by the name of McFarren. With the excep- 



96* THEVOYAGEOUT. 

tion of the roll, and the pitch, which made one grasp at 
something for support, as I said, every thing was snug and 
comfortable inboard. One of the lieutenants and I were 
chatting at the ward-room table, when suddenly there 
came from the deck, that sound which, without hearing 
a single word, you know means a life in danger. " What's 
that !" I exclaimed involuntarily, but I spoke to the air. 
With the first alarm that reached us, my companion had 
sjDrung to the deck. I followed him. A man overboard 
— overboard on such a night, in such a sea! Every one 
feels that something ought to be done, but what ? It was 
not a night to order any one out ujDon the water. There 
was no necessity for such an order — a crew of volunteers, 
headed by the gentleman who had so suddenly left me in 
the ward-room, stood ready for the hazardous duty. 

The most suitable boat, the whale-boat, happened to be 
on the weather side. They commenced lowering a lee 
boat, but the attempt was abandoned as useless. Where 
were they now to pull for ? We had already plunged on 
some distance in the darkness. At the stern hung two 
life buoys, with port-fires attached, intended to explode 
and burn some time after reaching the water, to show a 
drowning man where to find them, and a boat where to fiwd 
him. The strings had been pulled, both had broken, and 
neither port-fire lighted. The boy was heard shrieking 
and gurghng in two successive moments, first n«ar the 
gangway, and then under the stern, and this was the last 
of our first tribute to the Indian Ocean. 

On the 14th of February we had Mauritius in sight 
early in the morning. The weather was hot and gusty, with 
heavy thunder squalls. It was a race with daylight and our 
getting into port, and as the day wore on in haze and 
gloom, our hopes sank. At dark, when ofi" the port, and 
the shipping in sight, we fired a gun and hoisted a jack 
for a pilot, but no pilot came. We, therefore, lay ofi" the 



MAURITIUS. 97 

harbor of Port Louis until the following morning, when 
the pilot came to us, and we ran into the narrow channel 
which forms the harbor. Kow we had, clear and distinct, 
all the peculiar features of the scenery. Back against the 
sky cut the clear outUne of the mountains, and nowhere 
are they more remarkable, Peter Botte being, however, 
the most conspicuous. In front of the mountain range 
rose a bright green hill, and around this hill clustered the 
houses of Port Louis. On our left, as we ran in, was a 
rock-built fortress, and the point on our right, also fortified, 
was covered with groves of palms. 

The activity of the harbor was a surprise. I expected 
to see some shipping, but here before us was a dense forest 
of masts, moored in rows on each side of a central chan- 
nel. We moored outside this commercial marine, and in 
due season banged away our salute. A Babel confusion 
of tongues shook the air of this crowded harbor. Crews 
of more than half-naked darkies were singing and yelling 
at the various labors of the port — loading and unloading 
vessels, arranging moorings, etc., etc. A loud cry of hu- 
man voices arose with swelling and not unpleasant cadence 
upon the air. It came from a pyramid of copper-colored 
human beings, some clad in gay colored rags and some ' 
not clad at all, who thronged the decks, lined the sides, 
and rose one above another on the various elevated points 
of the ship — all shouting and singing. These were Coolies, 
and East Indians who had served out their five years' labor, 
and were returning to their homes. 

Our entrance to the harbor of Port Louis, and the dis- 
covery of our peaceable designs and character, relieved 
the inhabitants from quite a panic. The war talk between 
the United States and England reached these remote re- 
gions with exaggerated effect, and when, on the preceding 
evening, we were discovered off the island, an impression 
was originated which, growing like the three black crows, 

5 



98 THi: VOYAGE OUT. 

by the morning had exaggerated us into three American 
frigates, and an allied Russian force, coming to take the 
island. 

Mauritius celebrities are " Peter Botte," hurricanes, and 
its being the scene of the truth-founded romance of Paul 
and Virginia. Its support is sugar. Sugar is the prac- 
tical thing ; it swallows up all romance ; it roots up jungle, 
cuts down ornamental groves, destroys aromatic forests 
— nutmegs, cinnamon "and cloves. The efforts of the ear- 
lier settlers, their lives and labors, were given to making 
Mauritius a spice island — and the spice trees succeeded. 
Where are they now ? — given way to sugar. Why do n't 
you grow this, and why do n't you grow that ? — neces- 
saries and luxuries. They would do well, but every thing 
must give way to sugar. Sugar is dollars. It was not the 
rise and fall of empires, the results of battles, which were 
signalized from the telegraj^h posts perched on Signal 
hill, but " Sugar has risen," " Sugar has fallen, fallen, 
fallen," was the depressing news at the time of our pres- 
ence; and throughout this volcanic speck of mountain 
and plain, thirty-five miles long by thirty broad, and its 
mottled population of over one hundred thousand souls, it 
caused quite a panic. Of the i^opulation, about fifty thou- 
sand are in the city of Port Louis. 

Discovered by Mascaregnas, the Portuguese, in 1505, 
it was merely looked at and abandoned, being, however, 
named Cerne. Nearly a century afterwards, in 1598, a 
Dutch admiral accidentally found it, and using it to re- 
cover his sick, the Dutch also abandoned it, but called 
it after their Prince Maurice — Mauritius. Nearly half 
a century afterwards, in 1644, the Dutch settled it, but 
in about another fifty years they abandoned it, being 
•iriven away by slaves whom they had stolen from the 
neighboring island of Madagascar, and who, escaped to 
ihe woods, became wild maroons. The prodigious number 



MAURITIUS. 99 

of rats, it is said, also assisted in this expulsion. Then, 
in 1715, came along the French, and called it the "Isle 
of France," and set themselves to work to make it a spice 
island. Still it was a hard case, and was about being again 
abandoned to its loneliness, when fortunately it came un- 
der the genius of M. La Bourdonnais as governor, who 
strengthened, defended, and watered the capital, gave 
security to the population, developed its resources, and 
directed it to such results as now crowd its ports with 
shipping to carry away one hundred thousand tons of 
sugar a year. But M. La Bourdonnais, to do all this, 
had to be very superior to everybody around him, and 
consequently had to earn their hate and calumny, to en- 
dure persecution, imprisonment, and to die an obscure 
and impoverished death. But what need M. La Bour- 
donnais care for all this ? He has been dead now one 
hundred years, and the English are about to erect a mon- 
ument to so great a man. 

By the treaty of Paris, in 1814, the island passed into 
the hands of the British government, by which it is now 
held, and garrisoned by her troops. The French resi- 
dents submit to this with a very bad grace, and there is 
but little intercourse between the English and French. 
Louis Napoleon has rechristened the neighboring isle of 
Bourbon, in view of the present alliance, " Reunion," but 
the French of Mauritius express the hope that the final 
settlement of this war will find Mauritius restored to 
themselves. 

One of the most striking features of Port Louis is the 
motley population and motley costumes which are met in 
the streets. In mid-ocean, on the high-road between 
Asia, Africa, Europe and America, it seems to have gath- 
ered in the peoples and peculiarities of all quarters of 
the globe. 

As in architecture there are certain fundamental prin- 



100 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

ciples derived from the simple forms and teachings of na- 
tm-e, and from which, by taste and utility, are educed the 
elaborate finish of the most comi^licated structures, so, in 
the streets of Port Louis, it is seen there are similar nat- 
ural fundamental principles of costume, from which as- 
cend by gradation every addition, until dress reaches the 
high finish of the French and English ladies and gentle- 
men, who are driving among their more simply clad 
bronze-colored brethren. The first and most simple neces- 
sity of dress seems to be a cloth about the size of a nap- 
km, substituted for the primitive fig-leaf, and many are 
met in the thronged streets of the city with only this 
much of a garment. The next grows to a sheet folded 
around t\ie loins in fuller covering. The head seems then 
to claim the attention of the more dressy. In addition 
to the articles already named, some have a tight-fitting 
skull cap of figured calico upon the head, but turbans, 
full and flowing, white, colored and scarlet, are the more 
fashionable head-dress. And in the streets and on the 
roads many a slender Lascar and Hindoo is met, whose 
only costume is the loin cloth and a scarlet turban, with 
long tails hanging down his bronzed back. The next ad- 
dition is a bright figured muslin, though scant, jacket, 
buttoned lightly over the shoulders and breast. What 
the females want in muslin they endeavor to make up in 
the weight of metal thrust through their noses and ears. 
So it is bright and heavy, shape and symmetry seem to 
be of little consequence. Not only the lobe of the ears is 
heavy with the irregular pendants, but all along the outer 
rim and the top are perforations distended with golden- 
colored bars, plugs and rings. An especially favorite orna- 
ment is a ring of about the circumference of a tea-plate, 
dependent from the nose. But with all this barbaric 
decoration, the gay colors, the caps, the turbans, the dark 
hues of the slender, wiry, graceful figures are picturesque, 



MAUEITIUS. 101 

and the snowy flowing robes, full trowsers and spotless tur- 
bans of the full-clad Parsees and Arab merchants, movina 
among all this variety, give and receive a pleasing efiect 
from the contrast of spotless white and full clothing with 
varied colors and naked skins. These lightly-costumed 
Indians are the laborers, small farmers, hucksters, me- 
chanics, market tenders, etc. Their villages of small filthy 
straw huts are clustered around the outskirts of the city, 
and rude signs, with unspellable and unpronounceable 
Hindoo names, announce that they are jewelers, tailors, 
shoemakers, carpenters and cabinet-makers. As a speci- 
men of some of the names found among these people, T 
will give the following from the top of a quarter box 
of cigars which I bought : 

MA SOO SA N^A YA KOW YOU LOO. 
(Ra Va.) 

AT JAGGERNAIKPOORAM. 

These people were originally brought into the island by 
the British government as a substitute for the negro pop- 
ulation, rendered worthless by the emancipation of 1835. 
They are compelled to serve five years of what is called 
"industrial residence," and the best of these men get 
three dollars a month wages. At the end of the five 
years, if they desire it, they are returned to their own 
country, but most prefer to remain where they are, and 
enter into various pursuits upon their own account. Dur- 
ing their term of servitude they are liable to coercion, but 
can complain against undue severity. A regular slave- 
trade transaction has just taken place. A ship came in 
from the coast of Africa with a cargo of negroes, and they 
were sold at eighty dollars each, nominally for the passage 
money. They had been kidnapped and stolen from Afri- 
ca. This in an English possession ! 



102 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

One of the necessary and agreeable pilgrimages of Mau- 
ritius is a visit to the Canton Pampelmousses, about six 
miles from Port Louis, where tradition deposits the re- 
mains of Paul and Virginia. Whether this be true or not, 
it is but a just tribute to the beauty of the story to visit 
the scenes associated with it ; besides, the drive is a beau- 
tiful one, and near the reputed tombs is the botanical 
garden. 

I am not, however, disposed to accord in the incredulous 
view which some have been disposed to take of this beau- 
tiful tale. It is certain the St. Geran was wrecked in 1745, 
and St. Pierre, in his preface, says : — " I can give the as- 
surance that those of whom I speak truly existed, and that 
the histoiy is true in its princiiml events. They have been 
certified to me by many inhabitants whom I knew in the 
Isle of France, and I have only added some indifierent 
circumstances." The reputed tombs are shabby, crumb- 
ling little monuments of brick and plaster, standing in a 
bamboo grove on a private estate, and havmg neither in- 
scription nor name. 

Remarkable and conspicuous is the mountain of Peter 
Botte. From the sharp, steeple-like j^innacle of a mountain 
rises a mass of rock, shaped like an inverted pyramid rest- 
ing on its apex, and the base overhanging the sides of the 
mountain. To ascend to the top of this capjDing rock is 
at once seen to be an achievement of great difficulty and 
danger. The name is derived from an unfortunate French- 
man, who, having made the ascent, lost his life in return- 
ing. It was, however, successfully made by a party of 
English officers, in 1832, and one of them. Lieutenant 
Taylor, wrote an account of the feat, which was published 
in the third volume of the Royal Geographical Society. 
The following extracts from this narrative will give some 
idea of the difficulty of the entei-prise : "With much labor 
they had ascended to the shoulder of the mountain, from 



MAUEITIUS. 103 

which rises, for over three hundred feet, the neck or pin- 
nacle upon which rests Peter Botte. To ascend this neck 
was in itself a great difficulty. A negro, who held on 
with hands and feet like a monkey, climbed up the sides 
with a rope, which he made fast above, and up this rope 
the party shinned. Mr. Taylor informs us " it was awful 
work. In several places the ridge ran to an edge not a 
foot broad ; and I could, as I held on half sitting, half 
kneeling across the ridge, have kicked my right shoe 
down to the plain on one side, and my left into the bot- 
tom of the ravine upon the other. I held on uncommonly 
hard, and was very well satisfied when I was safe under 
the neck. And a more extraordinary situation I never 
was in. The head, which is an enormous mass of rock, 
about thirty-five feet in height, overhangs its base many 
feet on every side. A ledge of tolerably level rock runs 
round three sides of the base, about six feet in width, 
bounded everywhere by the abrupt edge of the precipice, 
except in the spot where it is joined by the ridge, up which 
we climbed. In one spot the head, though overhanging 
its base several feet, reaches only perpendicular over the 
edge of the precipice, and most fortunately it was at the 
very spot where we mounted. Here it was we reckoned 
on getting up. Lloyd had prepared some iron arrows 
with thongs to fire over, and, having got up a gun, he 
made a line fast around his body, which we all held on, 
and going over the edge of the precipice on the opposite 
side, he leaned back against the hne, and fired over the 
least projecting part. Had the line broken he would have 
fallen eighteen hundred feet. Twice this failed, and then 
he had recourse to a large stone with a lead line, which 
swung diagonally, and seemed to be a feasible plan. 
Several times he made beautiful heaves, but the provok- 
ing line would not catch, and away went the stones far 
down below, till at length ^olus, pleased, I suppose. 



104. THE VOYAGE OUT. 

with his performance, gave us a shift of wind for about a 
minute, and over went the stone, and was eagerly seized 
on the opposite side. 'Hurrah, my lads, steady's the 
word !' Three lengths of ladder were put together on 
the ledge ; a large line was attached to the one which was 
over the head, and carefully drawn up, and finally a two 
inch rope, to the extremity of which we lashed the top of 
our ladder, then lowered it gently over the precipice un- 
til it hung perpendicularly, and was steadied by two ne- 
groes on the ridge below. ' All right now, hoist away !' 
and up went the ladder until the foot came to the edge 
of our ledge, where it was lashed in firmly to the neck. 
We then hauled away on the guy to steady it, and made 
it fast. A line was passed over by the lead line to hold 
on, and up went Lloyd, screeching and hallooing, and we 
all three scrambled after him. The Union Jack and a 
boat-hook were passed up, and old England's flag waved 
freely and gallantly on the redoubted Peter Botte." 

On the 21st of February we cast off from our moorings, 
and got under way for Ceylon. 



XI 



OEYLON. 



" Ebony and topaz." Not the sentimental contrasted 
blackness and brightness of the thrice venerable John 
Quincy Adams, but real material ebony chairs, sofas, 
bureaus, boxes, canes richly carved, and glittering masses 
of topaz, in the shops and on the streets, with sapphires, 
rubies and amethysts, are the prominent first impressions 
of Ceylon, as we are introduced to it at the pretty walled 
and embowered town of Galle. 



CEYLON. 105 

Bishop Heber's beautiful missionary hymn has so asso- 
ciated the fragrance of spices and poesy with this island 
that one feels reluctant to break the bonds of genius which 
have thus bound them together ; but true it is, the " spicy 
breezes" are wafted only by the poet's imagination. 

In the first watch of the night of March 5th, 1856, we 
made the light of Point de Galle, gleaming over the sea 
like a " star on Hfe's tremulous ocean,'.' and on the follow- 
ing morning the tall and graceful white shaft, standing 
on the extreme point of Ceylon, indicated to us the " fort" 
and city. A pilot boarded us and took us in. 

It was a quiet and lonely looking spot, with but few ves- 
sels at the anchorage. As we ran in, however, the har- 
bor became suddenly alive. A crowd of boats, thronged 
with bronzed Cingalese, announced their rapid approach 
to us by the confused clattering of many voices. 

Queer looking boats they were, and won much of our 
attention. They seemed to be two planks, about six inches 
apart, coming end on to us, floating on the edge and carry- 
ing a heavy press of canvas. The planks rested upon a canoe 
beneath them, and out-riggers to a log, sharpened at both 
ends, kept them up in the water when under sail. Models 
of these boats are among the curiosities sold visitors. 

From these unique boats our glance is to the chat- 
tering, jabbering, shrieking, scolding, quarreling human 
beings on board of them. Their costume is attractive. 
At Galle a httle book has been pubhshed called the 
" Guide to Galle," in which, alluding to a part of Ceylon, 
it is said : " The rainy season extends from December to 
May, and from May to December the season is wet." So, 
in describing the costume of our new acquaintance, I 
would say — from the head to the hips there are no clothes, 
and from the hips to the heels about the same. 

On shore we found ourselves among a varied population 
of Asiatics. The Cingalese, with glossy jet-black hair 

5* 



106 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

smoothly put back from the forehead by a semich'cular 
tortoise-shell comb, and done up m a knot at the back of 
the head. Beneath this feminine arrangement are features 
covered with a fine skin, only less dark than the hair, of 
delicate and feminine form and expression, so that all the 
young look like girls to our unskilled eyes, a confusion 
which is increased by the white or bright-colored " come- 
boy" — a shawl folded as a petticoat around the waist, 
and worn alike by the more respectable of either sex. 
The women, however, wear a short jacket, dropping over 
the breasts, and leaving the body exposed between that 
and the comeboy. Like the boatmen w^e first saw, the lords 
of the lower class indulge in no such waste of muslin, but 
are content with that amount of costume which is a bare 
insuflSciency. All have black teeth and bloody looking 
mouths, from the use of betel, mixed with lime, and pepper 
leaves. 

Moormen, in Arab parti-colored caps, with shaven heads, 
and voluminous shawls wrapped around their waists, are 
everywhere at our heels, on the shores, in the streets, in 
the hotels and the halls of private houses ; even on the 
road-side, to the distance of some miles in the country, they 
appear importuningly. These Moormen are the traders 
in jewelry and precious stones. Jewel boxes are taken 
from the folds of their shawls, and sapphires, rubies, ame- 
thysts, carbuncles, emeralds, cat's eyes, and moon stones, 
displayed in gorgeous abundance, or else good English 
and French imitations of these valuables. 

Prices are coolly asked for these little glittering or- 
naments which would indicate that money was in great 
abundance at Point de Galle. Fifty, seventy-five, one, 
two hundred dollars for what, in your uneducated judg- 
ment, you hoped to win a wife. or sweetheart's smile, at 
the cost of only five or ten. One of these street peddlers 
proffered to sell me a sapphire for fifteen hundred dollars ; 



CEYLON. J07 

and in a shop having over its door a sign, " Guaranteed 
Jewehy," I was shown a cat's eye, which the proprietor 
j)rofessed to value at two thousand dollars. 

Ethnographers, in their classification of races, should make 
one of the mendicant or begging races ; and this character- 
istic would give us at once all the subordinate and in- 
ferior qualities which fill the vacuum of absent self-respect. 
While to the Malabar or Moorman is left this trade in 
jewels and gold-mounted tortoise-shell bracelets, the Cin- 
galese himself follows you with porcupine-quill baskets, 
carved ebony boxes, canes, etc. ; and if he has nothing in 
the shape of trade by which to rob the passing stranger, 
he still thinks he has the right of contribution, and if you 
glance at him on the wayside, out comes his soliciting 
hand with a salaam ; and smirking fathers will hold forth 
the hand of the infant in arms, to beg of the passer-by. 

It would be curious to know what idea a Cingalese 
resident of Point de Galle has of Europeans. This place 
is the first Indian touching-point of those young adven- 
turers to whom, being fresh from home, every thing is 
new. With life, and hope, and Indian fortunes in the 
future, they are reckless of their present limited means, 
and in the excitement of novelty, scatter what is to be so 
readily and richly replaced. 

. On the other hand, it is the last stopping-place in India 
of those golden-skinned, liver-grown few, who in the race 
against death for wealth, have jumped so often over the 
open graves into which their fellows have fallen ; and 
when they reach this point on their homeward voyage, 
they begin to feel as though they had distanced their 
grim competitor forever. They boast already of their re- 
newed strength, their freshness and vigor; and in the 
exultation of their spirits are willing to buy, at any cost, 
trinkets as tribute to the homes of their childish memo- 
ries, and those whom they hope yet to find in them. The 



108 ' THEVOYAGEOUT. 

jewel merchant of Galle is a keen observer of human 
nature, or rather "passenger" nature, and has a home 
and a " passenger" price for his wares. After some Httle 
detention at Galle had made me familiar with these things, 
I said to one of these peddlers, " You scamp, what do 
you mean by asking me so much for this thing, when you 
know the regular price is so and so ?" *' I thought 
master was a passenger, and that is what the passengers 
give us." 

Soon after our arrival, one of these peddlers was show- 
ing his wares to a group of officers at the ward-room 
table, when I, looking on, remarked of a neat and 
tastefully-set ring, " That is the prettiest thing he has 
shown." The man, with a graceful salaam, at once 
handed it to me, and said, "I'm sure you'll buy that." 
I had no intention of buying any thing, and wishing to 
be rid of his continued persuasive importunity, I asked 
the price. " Twelve pounds." " I '11 give you one." In a 
dramatic manner, he laid liis hand on his breast, and said, 
"I thank you. I know, though, you are but jesting ; it 
is not in my heart to ask more than the real value;" and 
with a mortified air, he put up his ring and went on with 
his sales to those who were satisfied with his prices. I felt 
somewhat sorry for having hurt the poor man's feelings. 
Having concluded his sales, he returned to me, saying, 
" I am very much in want of money, and must take the 
one pound for the ring." I knew now that even at my 
own offer I was paying too much. Havmg made it, 
would have given it, but not having so much money by 
me, I told the man he must wait until the Purser came on 
board, or return to the ship in an hour or two. This did 
not suit him, and he urged me to say what I would give 
on the spot. " All that I have in my purse," as I laid it 
on the table. He eyed it keenly for a moment, pushed 
the ring toward me, and emptied the purse. It contained 



CEYLON. 109 

one dollar and seventy-five cents, with which he went off 
satisfied, having made a dollar and a half by the sale of 
his sixty dollar ring. What precious stones passengers 
must buy at Galle ! There are, however, beautiful gems 
to be had there by the exercise of care and skill. 

We are talking about some of the people and usages of 
Galle without getting into the place. Where is it ? Most 
that we see are tall cocoa-nut groves, here and there and 
everywhere waving their graceful branches in the breeze, 
and promising to sea-parched throats the sweet refresh- 
ment of the sparkling water of the young fruit — a^promise 
which is fully kept. There stands the tall light-house, 
from amid the trees rise the roof and gable of a church, 
and surrounding all are the walls of a fortress. Galle is 
a fort. Behind those walls and green ramparts, hidden 
beneath those trees, are the houses, churches, shops, 
hotels, and clean, quiet streets of a population of three 
thousand Portuguese, Dutch, English, Cingalese, and a 
mixture of all — Catholic, Protestant, Mohammedan, and 
Boodhists ; and the only entrance to them is beneath a 
stone arch in the wall at the sea-side, through which are 
constantly passing, foot-passengers and merchandise, car- 
riages, wagons, and queer little bull-carts — small carts 
drawn by small bulls or oxen, and trotting rapidly with 
one inside passenger. The highest elevation of this fort- 
town is occupied by the old Dutch church, with the 
exception of a small Wesleyan chapel, the only church in 
the place ; and it presents an illustration of that Christian 
fellowship which should everywhere characterize Chris- 
tian denominations. From early morn until night, it is, 
on the Sabbath, occupied for refigious worship, and by 
three di:fferent denominations — two forms of Dutch Pres- 
byterian, and an Episcopal congregation. 

The congregations were of various degrees of color, 
from black, through shades of red and yellow, to white, 



110 ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

and all dressed with great neatness, mostly in European 
style, but some in the native costume of the " comeboy," 
surmounted by light loose jackets. The spectacle to us 
spectators was strange — and a pleasant one — to see Hin 
doos, in Hindoo costume, coming devoutly, book in hand, 
to a Christian church, and kneeling reverently a few mo- 
ments before taking their seats. 

Most of the congregation was made np of half-caste 
descendants of the Dutch and Portuguese. Many of the 
Portuguese residents are either Presbyterian or Meth- 
odist ; some of the church members are Cingalese. The 
Bible is freely distributed in the Cingalese language, 
which is that of the south of Ceylon ; and also in the 
Tamil, which is that of the north of Ceylon, and the 
neighboring part of Hindostan. 

Among the necessary excursions of visitors to GaUe, 
is a ride to the cinnamon gardens, and to the Boodhist 
temples ; and to those points of interest Ave of course 
went in a palanquin — a carriage cross between a " Black 
Maria" and a hearse, with four seats, roofed over and 
shut in, drawn by a miserable poor little horse, and con- 
ducted by a turbaned native, who, with well-timed con- 
sideration, gets the concern under full headway, and runs 
along for some distance by the horse's side, before mount- 
ing the box. During our drive, we met one of the car- 
riages of the aristocratic residents, and the coachmen 
were picturesquely clad in white dresses, with turbans of 
intertwined crimson and white. 

The cinnamon gardens on the banks of the Gindurah, 
are about four or five miles from the fort — a pleasant 
drive, passing out into the country beneath the shade of 
thick groves of cocoa-nut trees. The cinnamon planta- 
tion is a mere thicket of bushy shrubs, although if per- 
mitted to grow it would be a tree twenty feet high. 
Their branches are cut off close to the ground, and the 



CEYLON. Ill 

growth is so rapid that they are replaced in a season. 
On our way to the cinnamon garden, we had stopped at 
a Boodhist temple, perched on an elevation a little distance 
from the road-side. The temple consisted of an interior 
chamber, with an outer hall, or passage, going all around 
it. In this interior chamber were great carved images of 
Boodha, one sitting and the other lying in front of the for- 
mer. These images are about ten feet long. On each 
side of the same chamber are painted images of Seva and 
Vishnu, the saving and the destroying deities. The out- 
side passages, from roof to ceihng, were painted with alle- 
gorical or historical designs. Some of them seemed to 
have an elevated and spiritual significance, and there was 
enough besides the Trinity to show the corrupted rela- 
tionship of Boodhism to a lost but pure revelation. The 
predominant color in every thing — paintings and idols — 
was a bright golden yellow. The crowd of Indians who 
followed us into the temple, and who, from their residence 
about it, I presume were Boodhists, seemed to have no ven- 
eration for it as a sacred edifice, but rather gave their own 
admiration to, and expected ours for it, as a work of art. 
Immediately to the right, outside of the temple, was a 
dirty-looking shed, under which were two priests, wear- 
ing soiled mantles, of the sacred yellow color, hanging 
over their otherwise naked, and by no means cleanly- 
looking shoulders. One of them was, in a rapid, monoto- 
nous tone, reading from a bundle of narrow strips of 
bark, or rather the tough leaves of the talipot (a palm) 
tree, closely written. The other followed the reader, 
silently looking on a similar bundle of bark strips. It 
appeared to be proof-reading, as the silent man occasion- 
ally corrected the reader. They did not interrupt their 
work to look at us, and the only break in the rapid 
utterance, was the spitting of the blood-colored saliva, 
caused by the betel-nut, into a brass spittoon, as filthy as 
the whole party and its surroundings. 



112' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

As we drove along the road in the neighborhood of this 
temple, and of the cinnamon garden, onr palanquin was 
surrounded by a crowd of children and men, who kept 
pace with us by a steady trot, begging — offering canes 
of cinnamon-wood, the ever-present boxes of jewelry, and, 
in the immediate neighborhood of the Temple, carved 
heads of the Boodhist Trinity. One lad, of about sixteen, 
with no clothing but the fold of muslin tied around his 
waist, was very persevering in showing a box of glitter- 
ing jewelry at the palanquin window. I said to him, " Go 
away — I do n't want any thing — I am too poor — have no 
money to spare." He, with a laugh, promptly replied, in 
good English, " Oh no, sir, you are rich — you are as rich 
as Croesus." The classical allusion, and the speaker, and 
the place, all taken together, were rather interesting. 

There were other temples in the neighborhood. One 
of them, called " Minnangodde Parama Muda Vihare," 
instead of being under the direction of the chief Boodhist 
priest of Ceylon, is of the Siamese sect, the priest being 
ordained by the high priest of Siam. This functionary, 
and also the King of Siam and his brother, have sent 
some valuable presents to this temple, among them books 
in the Burmese characters, splendidly gilded and orna- 
mented, and supposed to be worth over one thousand 
dollars ; a betel-box, wrapped in cloth of gold ; silk robes, 
richly embroidered with the same metal ; paintings on 
cloth of the temple of Rangoon ; and the foot of Boodha, as 
carved in a rock in the I^erbudda river. One of the small 
statues of this temple is said to be two thousand years old. 

Among the points of beauty and interest in the vicinity 
of Galle generally visited by strangers, is an eminence 
known as " Garstin's Hill," being the property of the 
Rev. Dr. Garstm, military chaplain, and the site of his 
bungalow, or country cottage. It ascends, covered with 
a thick tropical growth, amid which chatter hundreds of 



CEYLON. 113 

monkeys, rather abruptly from the plain, and when the 
summit is reached, from the piazzas surrounding the bun- 
galow, the eye sweeps over an extent of rich scenery — 
plain, river, ocean, village, hills — and away to the interior 
mountains of Ceylon, and can distinguish the pecuhar and 
interesting point called Adam's Peak, or Mallua Sri Pade, 
the Hill of the Sacred Foot. From this peak, according to 
the Boodhist tradition, Boodha made a step into Siam, 
leaving the foot-mark of his last step from Ceylon im- 
pressed upon the rocky summit of this elevation, seven 
thousand four hundred and twenty feet above the sea. 
The Mussulmans change the foot-mark from Boodha to 
Adam, and both Mussulmans and Boodhists make it holy 
ground, and a point of meritorious pilgrimage. The 
Boodhists have the nine points of the law advantage of 
possession, and from their pilgrims quite a revenue is col- 
lected for the treasury of the high priest at Kandy. The 
approach to this sacred pinnacle is very difficult and labo- 
rious, as is also its ascent. Dr. Garstin had accomplished 
the feat, and told me the foot-mark was a mere weather- 
worn depression in the rock, assisted, by chiseling and 
additions of mortar, into the form of a foot. 

The indolent effeminacy of East Indian life makes itself 
apparent at Galle. Every house seems to be crowded 
with a multiplicity of servants, all of whom do not do 
more than one good stout house-servant in the United 
States. There is a servant for almost every individual at 
table, besides one to stand pulling the punka, or great 
fan, suspended in the middle of the apartment. Two or 
three seem to be necessary to take care of one chamber, 
each having his separate function. This all looks very 
comfortable, and promises an easy kind of a life. It is 
such for a guest, but when the burden and charge upon the 
lady of the house are considered — the neglect of duty, the 
caprice of changing places, the jealousy and bickering among 



114 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

each other — it becomes a servile tyranny, to which the free 
exj^ectoration of betel, in all directions, is no ornament. 

The demoralising influence uj)on the young is more 
than that attributed to slavery in our southern States. 
No matter what pains European parents may take to pre- 
vent their children becoming indolent and dependent, the 
result seems inevitable ; and an energetic lady, who had 
exercised a most vigilant precaution, told me that her 
children thought it the greatest hardship to have to take 
ofi" their own shoes and stockings. There is much more 
real comfort in our New England and western homes, 
where one servant or more is kept, and where each indi- 
vidual develops a self-dependent and vigorous character 
by the necessity of personal exertion, than in all this 
abundance of oriental servility. 

From the tyranny of this crowd of Cingalese domestics 
there is no refuge, as the number is a law of fashion and 
a measure of respectability. It requires, however, some 
habituation to the customs of the country passively to 
submit to it. 

Upon taking my seat in a friend's oflice, to write a let- 
ter, I noticed that a fellow was at once set to fanning me 
with the punka. A whole man, physical, moral and in- 
tellectual, working w^ith all his energy for such a result, 
made me nervous, and I could not write until I sent the 
fellow away. There was a want of proportion between 
the power and the end. 

During one of my visits to Ceylon, being detained there 
several weeks, an agreeable poetical friend. Dr. James 
Cruice, of the British army, the author of Psyche and 
other poems, and I, determined to fly from the gUttering 
tempters, the jewel merchants of Galle — from the gastro- 
nomic delights of its hotels, and to take refuge in a rural 
bungalow, five miles from the fort, amid the natural beau- 
ties of the picturesque vale of Walkwelle. Such an ere- 



CETLONc 115 

metical flight from hot, glowing streets — from the re- 
sources of the billiard room, and the loafing lounges of 
the hotel verandahs — from society — was easily enough ac- 
counted for by our friends, as regarded Dr. Cruice, from 
the fact of his being a poet, but as for myself, no satisfac- 
tory reason for the move, short of insanity, could be imag- 
ined. 'NoY was I personally dependant upon the mercies of 
the hotels, Commodore Armstrong and myself being made 
at home by the attentive hosi)itality of Mr. John Black, 
United States Consul, to whom the petty income of his 
office can be no compensation for the hospitalities of 
himself and family, extended to such of our countrymen 
as the passing steamers bring to Galle. One enterprising 
gentleman formed the bold theory that I might be a poet 
in disguise. I gave no reasons then and there. I will now 
give them in an appeal to a public jury " de lunatico in- 
quirendo." 

The bungalow of Walkwelle stood upon the point of a 
lofty promontory, which in one direction looked over 
palm-covered hills and valleys, out upon the blue sea and 
the sails upon its surface, from which the breezes came 
freshly, rustling among our cocoa-nut and palm groves. 
We looked down from each side upon grove-covered val- 
leys, which meeting at the foot of our promontory, wound 
away as one expanse, dotted with cattle and island groves, 
between ranges of hills far as the eye could see ; and over 
these boundary hills, dim and misty, were seen the distant 
mountains of Ceylon, suggestive of a wonderful interior. 
Down from those far hills, and away through our valley, 
on the right hand, in serpentme turns, flowed the Gindurah, 
now resting in the dark shadows of the overhanging forest, 
then gleaming in the open sunlight, as it sought its west- 
ward way to the sea. At sunset as the seaward sky was 
crimson, the river was a stream of bright gold. It was a 
place and a time to realize the opening of my friend's Psyche. 



IIG ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

"It was the hour when, in his flight, 

The sun along the western sky 
Leaveth a track of golden light 

To trace his radiant chariot by ; 
The hour when from the lofty pine 
The shadows fall in lengthened Mne, 
And song birds chant their vesper hymn — 
The dying day's sweet requiem ; 
When feebly falls the slanting ray 
On rivulets winding their weary way, 
By shallow ford and tangled brake, 
To rest that night in tranquil lake ; 
And flowers are closing their drooping eyes. 

And softly the gales 
Are breathing around their amorous sighs." 

The birds loved this scenery and lonely spot (we were 
the only inhabitants) as well as we, and sang among our 
trees their morning welcome ; while certain grave and 
bearded old monkeys seemed to hold an evening mass meet- 
ing upon our presence, which, from the earaestness and 
confusion of the debate, may have originated some new 
jjolitical party in the state — from the chattering they cer- 
tainly were not all of the same opinion. And the night 
cries of the jackal announced a wide-awake party in the 
forest. 

Such was our Cingalese retreat, in which, after a few 
days, I was, with the exception of the servants, left the 
solitary inhabitant, and thenceforth occupied myself in 
making the acquaintance of the various inhabitants around, 
my dwelling. The triangular point of the hill before my 
door, looking up the receding valley, had been at one time 
cleared and leveled a little, forming a small plain. Sev- 
eral large trees were, however, left standing, a row of 
cocoa-nuts fringed the edges near the house, and wild 
vines those at the point. Below these hill margins, the 
sides were a mass of wild jungle, and, for purposes of 



CEYLON. 117 

business or pleasure, the inhabitants of the jungle made 
frequent visits to my clearing, and gave me a good op- 
portunity, as I sat in the verandah, of observing them with 
my opera glass ; and I found this moral in my study, that 
throughout all animal existence, high and low, that mani- 
festation of selfishness which displays itself in self impor- 
tance, is the one uniform character. This, however, may 
be truly a virtue — the consciousness of individual humil- 
ity, in aspiration after a higher state of existence. As I 
half dreamed over the spectacle before me, I sometimes fan- 
cied I saw the various phases of human society, including 
those of our twenty-by-ten feet world, the quarter deck 
of a man-of-war. 

I was a spectator and a listener at a natural and varied 
opera, more harmonious to my untutored ear than the 
clanging of instruments in crowded haUs, beneath the 
glare of gas-light. The performance opened merrily at 
daylight, and continued with varying notes through the 
day. 

The most numerous, restless, and dissipated members of 
this mixed society, were the brown-coated, striped chip- 
munks, who arrogated to themselves the right to discard 
all duties, and to sport now on the ground and then amid 
the leaves and branches of the trees. With no steadiness 
of pursuit, they sought only the excitement of the moment 
among high and low. 

There were five or six families of lizards, some in 
griave and some in gay costume, with pufied-out throats, 
hurrying to and fro as if bearing messages of importance 
to the state — consequential as Mediterranean men-of-war, 
in inverse proportion to their usefulness. Occasionally 
two of these busy cruisers would stop a moment, exchange 
quiet signals, and then each hurry on his way. 

Heavy-bodied, long-tailed iguanas, some of them three 
feet long, would waddle up into view, and after looking 



118 THEVOYAGEOUT. 

around the scene for a comfortable place, recline half on 
one side while they lazily raked the ground with one 
fore paw and nibbled at the exposed roots. Fat vulgarians 
lying on the velvet benches and nibbling ground nuts. 
Industrious gatherers of the surrounding sweets, but mak- 
ing their industry heard in the world, buzzing a contri- 
bution to the general harmony, were tiny, sober-clad, 
long-billed humming-birds. 

Among my most frequent visitors, on the ground and 
in the trees, were pert, dandy, dapper little fellows, with 
black, velvety heads, black satin coat and vest, white 
satin breeches, coat tail lined with the same, and a narrow 
slashing of white along the sleeves, or wings. They 
hopped about, and sometimes, most impudently, up into 
the verandah, with their white-lined tails stuck perpen- 
dicularly up into the air, with a defiant " none like me" 
kind of air ; but notwithstanding all their conceit and 
pretensions, they were very nervous and timid, so that I 
was compelled to be motionless or put them in a panic. 
While thus still and quiet myself, looking and listening, 
an enthusiastic chap, up in the tree-top galleries, startles 
me by calling out in good English, fast and loud, just what 
I thought, " Pretty, pretty, pretty." 

But thorns among roses — bitters with sweets — and 
dangers amid the dehghts of Walkwelle. Whilst bath- 
ing in the Gindurah one is vividly conscious of the vicin- 
ity of crocodiles, and when coming fi'om this refreshment 
early on the morning of the memorable 22d of Febru- 
ary, I was in time to assist, at my own door, in the death 
of a fatal cobra ; that is, I looked on, while the native 
servants mashed his head, extracted with great care four 
sharp-pointed fangs, and then held his contorting body in 
the flames. 

To vary my residence at Walkwelle, I extemporized a 
vagabonding cruise of a day up the Gindurah. My boat 



CEYLON. 119 

was got up for the occasion. Two old and leaky canoes, 
one double the size of the other and doubly as rotten, with 
a bridge uniting them, upon which was laid, as a floor, a 
broad and golden yellow plank of the jack-fruit tree, and 
some twigs bowed over the machine, supporting a roof of 
dried palm leaves, completed our establishment. A cush- 
ion, carried with us from the bungalow, and extended on 
the jack-fruit plank, gave me a reasonably comfortable 
resting-place. Three naked Cingalese were my crew. The 
point of the river from which we took our departure was 
a ferry, and the country people were crossing it, on the 
way to the fort with their products. These were done up 
in baskets made of fresh taro or banana leaves, and sus- 
pended in green ribbons of some strong and fibrous leaf 
or grass, all having an inviting, fresh and tasteful appear- 
ance. Some carried suspended in these vegetable ribbons 
earthen bowls covered with green leaves, fixed by neat 
and regular rolls turned around the edges. Curiosity led 
me to look into these bowls, when I was pleased to see 
them filled with smooth and snow-white curdled milk, 
nothing less than the old-fashioned bonney-clabber, so 
bountifully associated with youthful years, country life and 
puzzling orthography in my childhood's early Maryland 
home. Thenceforth I had a bowl of this discovery and a 
bottle of fresh milk brought daily to my hermitage, and 
if its intrinsic merits, as a cool and refreshing food, had 
not been sufficient reason, I should have been tempted to 
do so by the renewed youth of early associations. A bit 
of brown fresh johnny cake beside the earthen bowl, 
would have absorbed all the intervening years and made 
the illusion complete. It is, though, a curious fact, that 
amid the spice groves of Ceylon, and with a nutmeg plan- 
tation within a short walk, I could not get a fragment of 
the aromatic nut to add its flavor to the cream's flakes, 
although it was always present in the North American 



120 . THE VOYAGE OUT. 

farm-house. The wooden nutmeg, illustrative of the in- 
genious knavery of our eastern brethren, loses the origi- 
nality of the invention, either as a fact or a caricature, 
by the natural products of Ceylon. The wild nutmeg of 
Ceylon resembles, in all external characteristics, the true 
spice, but the nut upon being cut is so completely insipid 
and wooden, that it is difficult to believe it any thing else 
than an ingenious artificial imitation. The probability is, 
that a fraudulent or accidental exportation of the wild 
nutmeg to Boston or to Salem, gave rise to this persist- 
ent sectional scandal. 

Cingalese all chew betel ; their mouths are blood-red 
with it ; streets and houses are spotted with the saliva ; 
the shops keep it for sale in tempting combination with 
the green pepper leaves, and lime. Galle exports cocoa- 
nut oil, ebony, spices, and the betel nut, the fourth in 
value being this nut. 

From Point de Galle our destination was to the paradise 
of the East, to Pulo Pin an g, in the Straits of Malacca. 
On the evening of March the 18th we made the south 
end of Nicobar, and on the evening of the 20th we 
were passing Pulo Rondo, and the several peculiar look- 
ing rocky eminences or islets which lie near it, and form 
a good land-mark for the Straits of Malacca. Pulo Wey, 
a very large island off the north of Sumatra. The waters 
are now of a dark green color, and we ' are running 
through their surf ice, unbroken by a wave, and, save the 
rijipling of a gentle breeze, as smooth as a floor. 

On the morning of the 21st we had the rocky islet 
of Pera close aboard. The surface of the waters is cov- 
ered with drift-wood, upon which are floating, in quiet 
dignity, many large birds. Myriads of a dull yellow 
snake — from three or four inches to a foot in length — 
are rapidly gliding over the surface of the water. I 
endeavored to have one taken, but, fortunately, without 



PIl^ANG. 121 

success ; as 1 subsequently learned from Dr. Bradley, 
United States Consul at Singapore, that these snakes had 
been ascertained to be deadly in their bite. That same 
day, as night closed in, we made the dark mountain 
island of Pulo Pinang, with heavy clouds resting on its 
summit, and the lights of habitations twinkling along its 
base. We had looked forward with the most pleasant 
anticipations to our arrival at this place, on account of 
the glowing descriptions which travelers have given of it ; 
and in addition, we had the special and great interest in 
its being the point at which we were to receive our first 
letters from home. But as we could not run in to-night, 
we came to anchor, and postponed our anticipations until 
to-morrow. 

We had been lying quietly at our anchorage for about 
an hour, when suddenly there glided up from the sur- 
rounding darkness a beautiful sharp and graceful boat, 
in which were, besides the dark-skinned native rowers, 
four or five Mohammedans, in full white turbans, and 
loose white robes. This was the boat of an old bearded 
Mussulman pilot, accompanied by his friends, seeking the 
business of the ship. 

There is one very annoying peculiarity of the East, and 
it is, that a man loses all right to proprietorship in himselt 
a-nd his own services. An exaggeration of luxury, by 
which an individual has no right to exert himself in his 
own personal matters — his free agency has gone. He is 
the slave of his servants — the property of the dark-skinned 
men who put their hands on their foreheads, bow to the 
ground, and kiss the dust of your feet. One of these 
loint-proprietors of your individuality is the "dubosch," 
and one of the turbaned companions of the pilot aspired 
to be the " dubosch" of our shij? ; that is, to attend to all 
your shopping, marketing, and purchases in general. 
Our caterer explained that we had no occasion for his 

6 



122 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

agency — that we bad a good steward, avIio ^\ ould do our 
marketing, etc. The dubosch explained that such was 
not the custom ; the steward would not be able to get 
many articles, w^ould get none so good as he would, and 
would pay more for them. All of which was true ; and 
we necessarily fell into the hands of our dubosch, the 
willing and unresisting victims of his knavery, but still 
cheated to our profit. 

" Where are you going ?" said my host upon one oc- 
casion. " To the shops to get so and so." " Not at all," 
said my host in surprise ; " you are not going to get it. 
Let the butler or your dubosch attend to that for you." I 
really neither needed nor wanted the article ; but I have-a 
woman's fondness for shopping in store or bazaar, for now 
all market j^laces are called bazaars. I shop to see the 
people and things, the manners and customs ; and I buy 
as a pleasant fee for the pleasure afforded me. These 
enjoyments taken from me, I had no object in shopping, 
and therefore sank back into the deep cane-seat chair 
in which I had been semi-reclhiing ; replaced my legs 
upon its broad flat arms, lengthened out two feet for the 
purpose of supporting the whole limb from knee to heel, 
and resigned myself in despair to the servitude of luxury, 
and the torments of inaction. 

On the following morning we again got under way, 
and ran into an anchorage ofl* the town. 



XII. 

PI N A N a, 

THE GEM OF THE INDIES. 

PiNANG, or Pulo Pinang, as it is variously written, has 
been called the " Gem of the Indies." A recent French 
traveler thus rhapsodises respecting this spot : " ' To see 



PIN Aif G, 



123 



Kaples, and then to die,' say the Italians, m their enthusi- 
asm for that city, bathed by a capricious sea, whose waves 
are tossed by the cold winds of the north. What, then, 
would this poetical people say, if they knew Pulo Pinano-' 
which, placed in the middle of Malaysia, is the Paradise of 
this Eden of the universe. It is upon this corner of the 
earth that the Deity has reahzed the vision of a perpetual 
spring." Such extravagant eulogy is unjust to persons 
or to places, and prepares one for disappointment. The 
whole effect of an intimate acquaintanceship, is vainly 
looked for in a first impression, and although Pinang did 
not burst upon us as a dream of paradise, we shall find 
increasing charms in our continued acquaintance. 

Pulo being the general term for island, Pinang is the 
Malayan name of the betel or areca-nut, and is so called 
either from the immense number of the beautiful areca 
palm found on the island, or, as some say, from its resem- 
blance, when seen from the sea, to the betel-nut in shape. 
It hes within two miles of the Malayan peninsula, and sepa- 
rated from the continental island of Sumatra by the Straits 
of Malacca. It is a forest-covered mountain, green and 
luxuriant, where its summit, two thousand three hun- 
dred feet high, catches the flying vapor, and sends it 
tumbling down ravine and rivulet, to water a plain of 
about four miles' width, which laps out irregularly from 
the base of the mountain into the sea. Upon this plain 
are the palm-groves and nutmeg-orchards, and the resi- 
dences of the inhabitants. A few bungalows, or one- 
storied cottages, are perched along the hiU-sides, and 
crown their very summits. 

As we look around us from the deck of our ship, new 
features are before our eyes ; here and there, among the 
shipping, are lying Chinese junks, with their confused pile 
of red-painted wood-work, and great goggle-eyes painted 
on their bows. Among the small boats pWng round and 



124 • THEVOYAGEOUT. 

passing our ship, are two kinds — one long, sharj?, canoe- 
built, ^\dth four or five half-naked, dark-skinned Klings 
sitting down and rowing ; but everywhere is seen a curi- 
ous triangular affair, with eyes painted on each side of the 
sharp bow. These are the Chinese " sampans," and are 
l^ropelled by grave-looking Chinamen, who, with blue 
cotton trowsers, no upper garment, shaved head, and 
broad-brimmed, conical hat, are standing up, each alone, 
in his own boat, swaying himself to and fro, as he slowly, 
but steadily, sculls his sampan. It is India, but it is still 
England. There, on shore, floats the omnipresent cross 
of St. George. If there were no such mark of nationality, 
we might guess it by the evidences of comfort and order 
which meet us w^hen we first put foot on shore at the sub- 
stantial and convenient jetty. We are in the midst of a 
picturesque crowd, and pillared over our heads, protect- 
ing us from sun or rain, is an appropriate roof, so that we 
can bare our heads to the sea-breeze, and take a look at 
the peoj)le around — Malays, Hindoos, Mohammedans, 
Chinamen, Europeans ; a mingling of bright colors, white 
and crimson predominating ; Chinamen, with all the head 
shaved but the crown, and the hah* from this depending 
in a long plait, or queue, to the ground, or else wrapped 
in circles around the head ; Mussulmans, with the entire 
head shaved, and covered with, close-fitting, many-colored 
straw or rush-plaited caps, or else with full crimson or 
white turbans. White or red striped petticoats or sarongs 
fell from the waists of some, and a few wore bright-colored 
iackets, but many encumbered with no more clothing than 
w^ould meet the demands of decency. Here and there a 
dark native, fully clad and stiffly buttoned up, represented 
the existing authority. These were native policemen. 

Ranged along on one side of the mole, were several 
cunning, sagacious-looking little ponies, harnessed to the 
palki-garis, or palanquin-carriages — low, oblong, close 



PINAl^^G. 125 

vehicles, with a back and front seat, each attended by a 
native oriental-looking Syce, light, graceful and delicately- 
Hmbed. Go as far as you will, as fast as you can, through 
the most burning sun, whilst you are fanning yourself in 
the carriage, the Syce runs a-foot at his pony's head, and 
from morning until night, at a dollar a day. These grace- 
ful grooms salaamed to us, and sohcited us to employ 
their vehicles, but as our consul's house was in sight only 
a few steps off, we declined a conveyance. In this we 
showed our ignorance of customs. No one walks any 
distance. After havmg visited the consul's house, I step- 
ped over to his office, but a Uttle distance off, and when 
about to return, a gentleman whom I met there, said, 
" You had better not walk ; I will take you over in my 
gari." I began to think that, in a fit of mental abstrac- 
tion, I had lost the idea of the distance ; but no ; we got 
in, closed the door, whisked around the corner in a min- 
ute, opened the door and got out at the house. We soon 
fell into the custom of a gari and Syce for any distance, 
however small. 

I have heard of a gentleman w^ho professed very little 
apprehension of the punishments of a future world, unless 
they should make him a United States Consul, and al- 
though no such satiric remark could ever acidulate the 
bland speech of Mr. Currier, our most estimable consul at 
Pinang, none could have had greater reason to utter the re- 
proach. His quiet and orderly establishment, fitted with 
aU the comforts of a fastidious single blessedness, was, in 
all its large extent, freely and hospitably given to our ac- 
commodation during the ten days of our stay, and each 
day he seemed happy in crowding his dinner table with 
his countrymen as guests. The grave old black Moham- 
medan butler, and the long-tailed Chinaman who had 
charge of the menage^ seemed in no way startled from 
their propriety by this sudden invasion, but, catching the 



126 . THE VOYAGE OUT. 

spirit of their master, made each one at home, and as one 
of the family. I believe that the Pinang consulate has 
no salary, so that the chief merit of the office is this privi- 
lege of keei^ing open house and extending a courteous 
hospitality to his countrymen, with the honor of doing all 
this at the exj)ense of the incumbent. The foundation of 
our consular system may be traced to that custom of the 
ancients by which each nation sent one of its own citizens 
to reside in foreign countries, to extend the rites of hos- 
pitality to those of its subjects who might wander thus 
far, and have no claim for entertainment. Mr. Currier 
seems to have revived the classic usage, without the 
national cause to sustain it. But there seems to be a law 
of comi^ensation in all things, and the man who has not 
only the honors of an unsalaried consulate, but the most 
pleasantly situated home, the most delicious curries, and, 
better than aU, the smile of sincere welcome which springs 
from a kind heart, must consent, for all these good things 
and qualities, to the penalty of giving a temporary home 
to his less fortunate countiymen. Of course, the East 
Indies is the only place to eat curry — and, as yet, I have 
seen the dish nowhere in such perfection as at the table 
of our consul. Who that has ever had the turbaned 
servant hand him the piled-up dish of snowy rice, with 
the giant silver spoon silently indicating the volume you 
were expected to consume, and then moistenmg his full 
plate with the cream-colored cocoa-nut Malay curry, fol- 
lovring this with the richer and more pungent curry, al- 
most solidified by the most delicate shrimp — who that has 
ever eaten this combination would again call the yellow- 
peppered turmeric-dyed dishes — curry? It was really 
surprising to see how this dish adapted itself to our taste, 
and some of my friends seemed to involve m doubt the 
necessity for the thing containmg being larger than the 
thing contained. 



PINANG. 127 

An evening seat on the pared flat roof of the portico 
brings before iis the advantages of this delightful resi- 
dence. We are, behind our wall, and air-perfuming trees, 
sufficiently removed from the smooth road to the jetty, 
passing in front of the house, which forms the morning and 
evening promenade and drive. In front, on the other side 
of the road, spreads the green lawn of the parade ground ; 
this is bounded by the waters of the strait, with its ship- 
ping, its junks and moving boats ; two miles across are 
the low lands of the province of Wellesley, sweeping away 
until they are bounded by the blue mountains of the do- 
minions of Siam. And now we may give some attention 
to the passers by on the road. The palki-garis are rol- 
ling by with the turbaned " Syces" running rapidly at the 
ponies' heads, and in these garis are various occupants — 
European sailors and residents. Chinamen sufficiently well 
to do to ride, Armenian and Arabian gentlemen, occa- 
sionally a European lady. The variously costumed natives 
whom we met at the landing are passing to and fro, 
and, in addition, a Malay " ayah," or nurse, with one or 
two white children ; the ayah wears the sarong or petti- 
coat twisted around her waist, and, in addition, a short 
loose badja or jacket dropping over her breasts. Their 
beautiful black hair is handsomely done up with silver or 
even gold ornaments. Sauntering down the road in a 
stately manner, come two of the dominant race, two Eng- 
lishmen, with folds of white muslin rolled around their hats, 
and dropping in a short curtain over the neck — a compro- 
mise between a hat and a turban, to protect the head 
from the sun's rays. Across the parade ground is march- 
ing a specimen of the physical force by which a small 
collection of English brains rules this Indian empire. It 
is a detachment of Sepoys, the Madras ISTative Infantry, 
Hindoos taken out of petticoats and put into stiff Eng- 
lish uniform and more constraining military drill, to help 



128 TUE VOYAGE OUT. 

Englishmen rule their country. Here comes one of the 
benefits of that rule — our ears catch a tinkling, clinking 
sound, and turning our eyes in its direction we see com- 
ing from their labor upon an adjoining public building, a 
gang of convicts, mingled Indians and Chinamen ; slender 
wire chains pass from one of their ankles to their loins. 
They are in charge of a single native Peon. These are 
thieves, rascals, and murderers, punished by exile from 
their homes, as well as by forced useful occupation. The 
corresponding gentry of this place are sent to return the 
visits of these guests. They are the laborers on all the pub- 
lic works, and to them we owe the good repair of the ex- 
cellent roads. Gradually the night draws on ; the passers 
by are fewer and few^er, until the road is quite deserted, 
and all w^ould be very quiet but for the sound of tom- 
toms, drums, gongs, and all the discordant noises which 
make a Chinaman's harmony, and which reach us obscure- 
ly from the more dense part of the town. Around us, 
too, we have a noisy animated nature of night birds and 
insects. The limpid cocoa-nut oil lamps are lighted in the 
house ; the Chinese servant, in Chinese costume, hands us 
tea in Chinese cups, which is taking the beverage with all 
appropriate concomitants. 

A quiet chat in lounging chairs, with cigars for the 
smokers, closed our first day in Pinang ; and w^e were 
shown to our comfortable, large and airy rooms in the 
second story, with open movable Venetian blinds next 
the sea, and the back looking, by capacious windows, upon 
the surrounding enclosure, or " campong," as such yards 
are called in the East, so that our sleeping might be 
fanned by every breath of air — a very j^leasant arrange- 
ment, but accompanied by some contingencies, which 
afterward appeared, and took a little from tlie full enjoy- 
ment of such airy apartments. The sleeping garments of 
this climate are peculiarly convenient. They consist of 



PINANG. 129 

very loose, ligiit-flowing trowsers, made of white or 
striped muslin or silk — one style being fashionable in one 
locality, and one in another. These trowsers are fastened 
with a drawing string around the waist, and called pan- 
jammas. Over this is worn a badjo, or loose, shirt-like 
jacket, without a collar. By those who do not go out 
of the house, these are worn as a loose morning costume, 
or deshabille^ until the breakfast toilet is made. 

From dawn to sunrise, and from sunset till dark, are 
the only hours for out-door exercise; and accordingly, 
accompanied by a friend, I started, at the freshest hour 
of day, for a stroll through the streets of the foreign 
residents. It was like a walk through a garden. Smooth 
white-graveled roads, bordered by green sward, passed 
through avenues of cocoa and palm trees, flowering shrubs, 
and bamboo hedges — walls, almost concealed by fohage, 
enclosed campongs of nutmeg trees and other shrubbery, 
and in the midst of these stood the dwelling, generally 
large, square, and airy, built of brick, stuccoed, washed 
cream color, and roofed with tiles ; the second story, 
and sometimes the first, surrounded by Venetian veran- 
dahs. In front of every house is built a portico, project- 
ing twenty or thirty feet, and resting upon stone columns. 
Under this the carriages drive, and are well protected 
from the weather. The roof, being flat and paved, forms 
a pleasant lounging place in the cool, shady hours of the 
day. Returning from our stroll, we bathe, throw on the 
badjo and panjammas, take cofiee, and read or write 
until it is necessary to dress for breakfast, which is ready 
from ten to twelve o'clock, and is a meal worthy of the 
appetites which approach it. Tifiin is on the table from 
one to three, and dinner from five to eight. 

The bathing arrangements of the East, are very simple. 
The bather stands besides a tub or bucket of water, and 
with a dipper pours it over himself. This douche bath, 
6* 



130 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

without the shock of the shower bath, is considered more 
tonic than getting into the water, and not so dangerous, 
as having no tendency to produce congestion of the brain. 
Any one who can get a bucket of water, and a convenient 
place to stand, can take such a bath. 

A walk through the business part of the town has no 
such attractions as that through the villa streets of the 
foreign residents. It is a complete Chinese town — all 
the mechanics, carpenters, cabinet-makers, blacksmiths, 
shoemakers, tailors, jewelers, are Chinese, and also the 
shopkeepers. The streets are generally narrow, with 
foul-smelling ditches on each side. The houses are 
closely built, the second story, or dwelling part, over- 
hanging the lower, or stores and shops. Long, narrow 
signs, with Chinese characters, hang perpendicularly at 
the sides of the doors, and strips of red paper, with 
Chinese characters, are suspended from the top of the 
door. Queer-looking Chinese children, with shaved heads 
and young queues, are playing in the dirt before the doors. 
Joss-houses, or places of worship, with Chinese lanterns 
suspended before them, are frequent ; and almost, if nOt 
every habitation, has its private joss, with a lamp burning 
before it, and slips of paper in a vessel ready to be lighted 
and burned before the deity. " Licensed Spirit Shop," 
" Licensed Toddy and Bang Shop," " Licensed Opium 
Shop," are signs seen in every wretched street. Toddy 
is the intoxicating fermented sap of the cocoa-nut tree, 
and bang is a liquid preparation of the maddening 
hachish, or Lidian hemp. These evidences of gross in- 
dulgence seem scarcely reconcileable with the untiring 
and i^ersevering industry of the Chinese. All day long, 
in the hottest weather, in shop and at forge, they are at 
their labor; and bowed beneath the weight suspended 
from each end of a long stick across their shoulder, they 
are met in the street and on the road, from youth to old 



PIKAKG. 131 

men, hurrying along with their burdens. Some are 
bringing in loads of marketing, others are bearing min- 
iature peddling shops. One man is a peripatetic meat 
market ; on the top of a large covered basket is lying a 
quarter of mutton or pork, and each of his suspended 
baskets contain his butcher wares. Another travels 
around with a cook-shop and eating-house — ^his furnace 
in a box at one end of the pole, and his cooking materials 
in another box, at the opposite end. 

As we get on the outskirts and along the water-courses, 
the houses are built on posts five or six feet above the 
ground, and reached by a ladder. The domestic animals 
harbor under the shelter of their proprietors, and when 
the tide flows, it washes in and out under these tenements. 

Among the street and road sights, few things are more 
singular than the large, docile, unwieldy, patient-looking 
draft- buifalo. They are naked, quite destitute of hair, 
generally of a bluish black, and sometimes of a pinkish 
flesh color. They have a hump on the shoulder, and flat, 
corrugated horns. It was a comfort to see them all look 
fat and in good keeping. 

Among the most repulsive resorts of this population 
are the opium-smoking shops. Situated generally in filthy 
localities, the door is closed by a curtain of dirty coarse 
canvas, and no care seems taken to gild the horrible vice. 
At night, accompanied by a friend, I visited one of the 
principal of these establishments, over which hung the 
sign " Opium Farm." In attempting to open the lower 
half-door of this establishment, a Chinaman on the inside 
refused us admittance, and pointed to a window closed by 
upright wooden bars wide enough apart to admit the 
hand. A crowd was gathered around this window, inside 
of which were two men, one busy in taking money, and 
the other in passing the opium to the squalid-looking pur- 
chasers outside. It was some minutes before our turn 



132 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

came, when, handing a ruj^ee (about forty-five cents) 
through the window, I received about a teaspoonful of a 
dark, semi-fluid preparation of opium folded in a piece 
of corn-husk. All who purchased, while we were there 
went off, I presume to their homes, to smoke it. 

With ours as a ticket of admission, we again approached 
the door, which was now immediately opened to us. The 
apartment was gloomy, dirty and comfortless. A small 
lamp burning before a "joss" threw an obscure light 
over the place. On one side were piled chests of opium. 
In the shadows of the apartment one or two figures could 
be seen lying upon benches. These we supposed to be 
individuals laid away in the deep intoxication of the drug. 
Near the idol altar, lying in a recess, were reclining two 
Chinamen, with a small lamp between them, smoking the 
opium pipe. One of these men seemed to be half servant, 
half friend of the other, as he steadily filled the pipe and 
handed it to his companion, only occasionally and at long 
intervals taking a whiff himself The pasty opium was 
introduced into the small cup by means of a slender wire, 
and one, or at most two whiffs, the smoke being gradually 
breathed through the nose, seemed to exhaust it. The 
effect was instantaneous. The countenance took on a rapt, 
but unpleasantly contracted expression, during which he lay 
with his fingers resting on his forehead. The effect was 
of very short duration, and while the pipe was being re- 
filled he sat up and conversed with a natural expression, 
occasionally smoking a pipe of tobacco in the intervals " 
between those of opium. With an habitual smoker some 
hours are necessary to bring on the full intoxication. 
These individuals seemed rather gratified than otherwise 
at our attention. The superior ordered seats to be brought 
us near them, and the opium-pipe being filled, courteously 
offered it to us. 

I have alluded to the discordant tom-toms and screedi- 



PINANG. 133 

ing gongs which invaded our quiet residence on our first 
night ashore. Following up these sounds until they 
grew louder and more intolerable, they brought us to a 
motley crowd, over whose faces glared the lights from a 
covered platform in an open space before the principal 
Chinese temple. It was a Chinese theatre supported by 
a subscription of the Celestials for public performances. 
All I could make of it was this confounding noise of all 
imaginable discordant instruments — a crowd of people 
moving about the stage in various Chinese costumes, in- 
cluding silken royal robes, with masked faces, and in the 
pause of the instruments screeching to each other in voices 
no less discordant. I made a very short stay. Inferring 
that my readers are as tired as I am of these degraded 
and senseless exhibitions of a degraded humanity, we 
wiU refresh ourselves in more natural and invigorating 
scenes. 

Although, under the influence of fresh sea-breezes and 
the calm pulses of a quiet life, there is no great incon- 
venience from the heat of Pinang, yet the inhabitants 
have the choice, in an hour's ridfe, of a cooler and more 
bracing climate. Mt. Greene, a partner of Mr. Currier's 
house, was residing at his bungalow on the hill-top, at an 
elevation of two thousand five hundred feet above the 
sea. This gentleman was kind enough to invite us to 
make him a visit at his elevated home, an invitation 
which we gladly accepted. Leaving the city at four 
o'clock in the afternoon, we rode, in palki-garis, four 
miles, over graveled roads winding through palm and 
nutmeg groves, to the foot of the hill, and here we found 
saddled ponies, and their attendant Syces, who had 
been sent out in advance of us. Mounting these lit- 
tle ponies, which seemed scarcely able to bear our 
weight, especially as two of our party were in the 
neighborhood of two hundred pounds, we commenced 



134 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

the ascent, the animals moving oiF with astonishing brisk- 
ness. The whole distance of the winding road was three 
miles to reach the two thousand five hundred feet eleva- 
tion. The road passed through the most luxuriant forest 
of shrubs, vines, and towering trees, while the ground 
was carpeted with mosses and varied ferns. Birds and in- 
sects were sounding their notes through the forest ; but, 
above all, rang out the notes of the trumpet-beetle, a 
rapid succession of whirring notes, terminating in a series 
of shrieks like that of the Guinea-fowl. It is difficult to 
conceive of so much noise coming from an insect so small. 
It is of a bright green color, and in form a mixture of 
locust and katydid. Monkeys dwelt in myriads along our 
route, but concealed themselves on our approach. Much 
of the road overhung deep ravines and precipices, and 
occasionally an opening in the foliage gave us a view of 
the distant sea. We were about half way up when the 
evening clouds came sweej^ing in smoky mist upon us, 
and we had every promise of a drenching rain, for which 
we were by no means prepared. It would be cruel and 
useless to urge our j^onies, who dug their hoofs with 
spiteful energy into the earth, and pulled us up with all 
their might. The clouds grew thicker and darker, and 
soon down came the rain in torrents, in sheets of water — 
such a rain as only can rain in a tropical forest of a moun- 
tain island with a steamy sea around it. It was such a 
rain as relieves one of all responsibility of guarding against 
it, and induces one to submit in pleasureable despair, an- 
tici^Dating the comfort of dry garments, no matter where ; 
nor how they fit. It was nearly dark before we reached 
the bungalow, and quite so before we were in dry gar- 
ments, therefore all picturesque views were postponed 
until the morning; and for the sentimental, we gladly 
accepted the actuaUty of a substantial and most welcome 
mountain-summit Pinang dinner — thanks to the kindness 



PINANG. 135 

of Mr. Greene and to the enduring fortitude of the bazaar 
man. Daily he comes out from town a-foot, with the 
loaded baskets of provisions suspended from the stick 
across his shoulders ; walking all these eight miles, as- 
cending these two thousand five hundred feet, and bearing 
this burden, for twenty cents. Besides the convenience 
of such cheap transportation of their marketing, the 
mountain bungalow residents have a convenience rarely 
if ever enjoyed by the rural residents of any country. 
In their immediate neighborhood is the government bun- 
galow, and at the government bungalow is a semaphoric 
telegraph ; so that if any change in the marketing is re- 
quired, an extra duck or chicken, any inquiry to be made, 
or the physician needed, in a few minutes the order or 
message is conveyed and an answer returned. We had, 
during our stay at Pinang, several occasions to appreciate 
the advantages of the telegraph. 

As we sat after dinner in the piazza in front of the 
drawing-room door, we found that we were still envel- 
oped in passing clouds, for the astral lamp behind us 
reflected our shadows upon the flying vapor. The 
thermometer stood at T4° Fahrenheit, about 12° below 
the temperature of the plain, a difierence which j)roduced 
chilliness, made thoughts of cloth clothes agreeable, and 
a blanket at night desirable. Then, there were no mos- 
quitoes. But stories and traditions of gigantic scorpions 
and long centipedes, were a little calculated to derange 
our sleeping comfort. 

By the earliest dawn one of our company came to my 
room in quite a fit of enthusiasm, calling me to look at 
the wonderful scenery lying spread out before us. It was 
just one of those views which one feels his incompetency 
to convey, by description, all their grandeur and all their 
delicacy. The air was intensely, keenly clear, and far 
down below us lay the plain, extending in a triangular 



136 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

form into the sea. Like white lines, the roads curved 
through the nutmeg groves to the extreme point of the 
triangle upon which rested the city, and the shipping lay 
like toys upon the water. But the whole plain of the 
opposite province of Wellesley lay far below us covered 
in a fleecy white cloud, tossed into gentle hillocks, with 
here and there a larger bank, looking like a broad snow- 
covered prairie, sweeping away to the distant Siam moun- 
tains, which stood out clear, blue and distinct — so cleai-, 
that a gentleman familiar w^ith the \new, said there was 
one peak visible he had never seen before. Here and 
there a nearer peak rose through the cloud-frill like a 
detached island. Our point of view faced directly toward 
the east, and as the sun came over the highest mountain 
summit, his faint rays falling on the velvety, snowy hil- 
locks, beautifully tinged them with pink, violet and gold- 
en hues. As the sun gained power, the cloud covering 
was 'renaoved from the rice and corn fields of the plain, 
and gathering around the mountain tops for the day, shut 
them from our sight. Our morning stroll about the 
grounds was in an atmosphere perfumed with the great- 
est profusion and variety of roses. The gardener, each 
morning, replaced the mammoth bouquet, of the day be- 
fore, in the rooms by fresh ones, without fear of exhaust- 
ing his stock. We extended our morning's walk be- 
yond Mr. Greene's premises to the government bunga- 
low, about two hundred feet higher up. We there heard 
that the Lord Bishop of Calcutta was momentarily ex- 
pected to spend some days in this cool retirement. His 
servants were already there, and before we left his lord- 
ship arrived, borne in a palanquin on the shoulders of 
six Coolies. For his age, seventy-eight years, he was a 
fine-looking, hale, cheery old gentleman. As the Bev. 
Daniel Wilson he had earned some reputation, and was the 
author of a work on the Evidences of Christianity. All 



PINANG. ^^^ 



accounts represented him as a good, earnest and benej- 
^TL\nt even our high churchmen thought Ms 
bearing too authoritative and lordly to meet our repub- 
Hcan notions of a clergyman's demeanor. I :t ^as so > 
was more the fault of the institutions under which he 
lived than of the man. We can not judge justly those 
placed under influences to which we have ^ever been 



" Who made the heart— 'tis He alone 

Decidedly can tiy us ; 
He knows each chord, its various tone, 

Each spring, its various bias. 
Then at the balance let 's be mute, 

We never can adjust it ; 
What 's done, we partly may compute, 

But know not what resisted." 

And the man who has lived for many years of a long life 
in the command of a large revenue, in the enjoyment of 
hich power and prerogative, among a people deferential 
to°that power_a churchman, whose progress is mavted 
by .alvos of artillery-may have had straggles of humble 
self-te^ Aing, and have accomplished a personal discipline 
unknown atd unnecessary to those who have not been 
Zs exposed. In the afternoon, the Lord Bishop, sup- 
ported on the arms of his friends, walked over to our 
lungalow, and made us a cheerful and pleasant visit. On 
the following morning we left our cool mountain nest 
and before the heat of the day had come, we were back 

'" DuiTo"^- absence, the first death had occurred in our 
ship, in the person of a German marine, who had been 
ong sinking under consumption. With three volleys of 
musketry over his grave, we left him n the Roman 
Catholic cemetery of this beautiful island. _ 

The Roman Catholics have a French mission at this 



138 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

place. In the town is a female seminary under their 
charge, and a few miles out quite an extensive college for 
the education of youth from Siam, Cochin China, and 
other pomts of the East. These youths are taken from 
their homes and fitted for such priestly and missionary 
duties as may seem to suit their natural talent. It is a 
princijDle not to interfere with their national peculiarities 
in costume, etc., so that they may be returned to their 
people with no external peculiarities marking their differ- 
ence of faith. In company with Mr. Harris, who was 
well acquainted with the priests, I rode out to this col- 
lege. We reached there just as dinner was over, and as 
we entered the corridor, the youths, from fourteen to 
twenty years of age, were walking about, some with 
books in their hands, but all, including the youngest, 
smoking long pipes of tobacco. The fathers were amus- 
ing themselves over a billiard-table. Father Martin, a 
gentleman of great urbanity and courtesy, showed us 
over the whole institution. He was an enthusiastic 
naturalist, and we had great pleasure in looking at his 
collections, which, among other curious preparations, had 
several specimens of the flying fox, a very singular an- 
imal. There w^as one fine large tiger which had been 
killed close by the institution. Laid out in serpentine 
length along the top of the apartment, was a large boa 
constrictor. Thirteen feet was its actual length. To say 
such a reptile is thirteen feet long, gives no true ideal 
of the measurement of impression. Exaggeration seems 
necessary to tell the truth, so far as eifect goes ; and 
without knowing the length in feet, had I been asked the 
length of this snake after I had left it, I should have 
said from twenty to thirty feet. To such mental im- 
pressions I attribute the incredible size which it is said, 
as sober truth, these reptiles sometimes reach. Individu- 
als have told me they have seen them over one hundred 



PINANG. 139 

feet long, and record their capacity to swallow full-grown 
cattle or bufFalos, and naturalists record it as a fact that 
they do so. The largest, however, of which I had posi- 
tive evidence, was twenty-three feet long, and from it 
was taken a pig weighing one hundred and six pounds — 
so that a man might not be too large a mouthful to swal- 
low. If the snake I saw dead grew upon me in im- 
pression from thirteen to thirty feet, I imagine he would 
have looked much larger had I met him writhing in the 
forest, and can easily suppose that one of thirty feet would 
with truthful purpose be reported one hundred. 

Upon our return to Mr. Currier's, the roof of a back 
building in the campong, a few feet from the back win- 
dows of our airy apartments, was indicated as the spot 
where the boa constrictor I had just seen, had been killed 
only a few weeks before. 

During our stay at Pinang, I had two opportunities of 
attending the Free Scotch Church in charge of the Kev. 
Mr. Moir, an intelligent, earnest, and able divine. Upon 
first entering the church, I was surprised, and at first 
unpleasantly so, at seeing two long punkas swaying to 
and fi'o over each range of pews, and a smaller one over 
the pulpit. These punkas were pulled by native Moham- 
medans in the side aisle. The moving fans, the turbaned 
M\issulmans, the labor of fanning Christians at their de- 
votions, seemed incongruous. But the silent moving 
punkas were no disturbance to the worship, and the clat- 
tering of an infinitude of fans would be. Less manual 
labor was done in the aggregate by the three Mussul- 
mans than would be done in detail by the individual 
fanners. Again, the Mohammedans did not regard the 
Sunday as a Sabbath, and if not there, would be engaged 
in active labor elsewhere. If they could understand the 
teachings of the sanctuary, there was nothing in their 
punka-pulling to prevent their profiting by them. I was 



140 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

told that the men doing this work had all been con- 
demned for mm-der. 

The punka affords an illustration of the servile condition 
of the native races. Dining with an English gentleman, 
I remarked ujDon the comfort of such an arrangement 
in such a climate. "Yes," he said; "but we can not 
here hire a man to pull one all night over our beds, 
for less than |4 a month. In Madras, I paid only |1.50." 
" But, did one man pull all night ?" " Certainly. You put 
him on a high stool, off of which he is sure to fall if he 
goes to sleep. If you hear him come down, go and give 
him a kicking, and he will be sure not to do it again." 

This is Indian British liberty. I would not adduce the 
single remark as the foundation of a general rule, but it 
was made in such a matter-of-course manner as to show that 
it was the rule ; and further, it is consistent with all my ob- 
servations of India. Since rounding the Cape of Good Hope 
I have not yet seen the first white man at any manual labor, 
excepting only the seamen of our own and other foreign 
vessels, and from all I hear, all I read, as well as all I see, 
I suppose such an instance would be a marvel. In all the 
intercourse between white and native, the demeanor of 
the latter is more servile, the language used toward him 
more harsh, habitually, than is the usage betvreen master 
and slave in our southern States. Yet these are, in name, 
free British subjects. What is the difference between the 
abstract liberty of the Hindoo and the actual slavery of the 
Afi-ican ? I state facts, which those who are honest in 
solving the problems of humanity ought to know and con- 
sider. " I thrash them ; I am obliged to thrash them," 
said a sugar planter to me. " To be sure they have the 
right to complain, but we take care to prevent that." 

During our stay at Pinang, I saw much of an intelligent 
commander of a pepper ship, from Sumatra. Most of the 
pepper trade is carried on by American ships, and yet he 



PINANG. 141 

told me that there were no surveys of the coasts except- 
ing those made by necessity by merchant captains. He 
thought, however, that any of our national vessels cruis- 
ing on the coast, would chance to do as much harm as 
good, as the latter had been the result of past proceed- 
ings. An outrage is committed upon some Americans by a 
small body of individuals, and this outrage, perhaps, pro- 
voked by the abduction of some female — the severest of- 
fense which can be committed against them — or by smug- 
gling off pepper at night. Without inquiry, or the means 
of adjudicating the facts, a man-of-war comes along and 
batters down the town and the houses of some rajah 
and his people entirely innocent of the matter, and then 
goes away. This naturally excites a feeling of bitter hos- 
tility and a desire for vengeance, which may be wreaked 
upon the crew of the first unsuspecting pepper ship which 
comes along. 

The eclat of vindicating American rights, by battering 
down some semi-barbarian town, may be brilliant in the 
home papers, but ten or twelve thousand miles' distance, 
and the absence of a press among the punished people, 
may prevent many contingencies appearing to tarnish that 
brilliancy. 

One would little suppose that the quiet town of Pinang 
has the business which is really done, reaching the amount 
of ten millions of dollars. N"early one million of this is 
with the United States. The exports are tin, brought 
from the tin mines of Siam, India rubber, gutta percha, 
cocoa-nut oil, nutmegs, pepper from Sumatra, and rattan. 

Pinang was once a possession of the rajah of the op- 
posite province of Queda, but was a beautiful jewel dow- 
ering the rajah's daughter, and, undoubtedly, rendering 
more brilliant her charms, when she married an English 
gentleman by the name of Knight, who subsequently trans- 
ferred his possession to the India Company. 



142 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Our repairs being all comj^letecl, on Wednesday morning, 
April 2d, with an Englisli pilot on board, we got under- 
way for Singapore, where our friends in the frigate Mace- 
donian were anxiously awaiting our arrival, and had been 
doing so for two months, that they might return to the 
United States from their protracted cruise of three years. 



XIII. 

SINGAPORE. 



Any one who will look at the geographical position of 
Singapore, and its relations to the commerce between the 
East and West passing through the Straits of Sunda and 
the Straits of Malacca, will readily understand how, in 
a few years, a thriving city of forty thousand people has 
been planted in the jungle. Although the papers record 
that in the surrounding thickets of Singapore island the 
tigers destroy an average of a Chinaman a day — three 
hundred and sixty-five a year — the voyager finds its har- 
bor floating the models and the flags of all nations, from 
great lumbering, red-painted, goggle-eyed Chinese junks, 
to the fine, large and elegant clipper-ship of the States ; 
and among the flags of Europe and America we saw the 
white elephant banner of Siam, and the gaudy-hued flags 
of other eastern nations. 

Another characteristic of the wide-spread interests 
of Singapore and varied nationalities here gathered to- 
gether, is found in the names of the business houses : 

Syed Abdoal Al Junied, merchant ; Seyd Abbobaker, 
Arab merchant ; Eng Wat, Moh Guan & Brothers ; Raab 
Quay ; Cursetgee & Co. ; Whampoa & Co. ; Shungieb- 
hay Humusjee, Parsee merchant, etc. Such specimens are 
scattered numerously among those of European houses, 



SINGAPORE. 143 

and no men stand higher m the commercial world than 
the Arab merchants. 

Our anchorage was necessarily a long distance, from two 
to three miles, from the shore, and falling readily into the 
usage which makes the native the servile laborer, we em- 
ployed two native boats to run between the ship and shore, 
instead of using our own boats and seamen. These boats 
were narrow, sharp, flat-bottomed, ticklish, wabbling 
things, roofed over the middle with matting, and- rowed 
by three or four natives. They were very neat and clean. 

Singapore is Pinang enlarged. There are the same 
neat, garden-surrounded, stylish houses of the foreign resi- 
dents, with pleasant promenades and drives through them, 
and the same long, narrow, close-crowded, opium-smok- 
ing, toddy and bang drinking streets of the pounding, 
blowing, filing, sewing, stitching, laboring Chinamen ; but 
the two sections are, in this instance, separated from each 
other by a stream crossed at several points by bridges. 
The street which runs along the business side of this river 
is lumbered with piles of the products of the East and 
the West, and crowded with the bufialo carts carrying 

away, or laborers passing it into the adjoining stores. 
Rising above all, for five hundred feet, is the foliage-cov- 
ered government hill, with the British flag flying before 
the house which tops the summit. From this hill is a 
good view of the town, the harbor and the nutmeg groves 
of the surrounding country. The Chinese are in such 
numbers and wealth that their joss-house or temple is 
said to be one of the finest to be seen. I directed my 
Syce to drive there. Admission was given us by a Mo- 
hammedan native, who had his quarters in one corner of 
the temple paved court. Before unlocking the door he 
cast over his shoulder and breast a band with a silver 
plate engraved "Chinese church." This individual con- 
ducted us around, pronouncing in English the names of 



144 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

the various things he thought objects of interest. The 
idols were three behind each of two altars, representing 
a higher and two lower deities, and on each side of the 
collection was a figure the size of life, and whose character 
was easily read in his demoniac face and long tail curled 
over his shoulder, even if our guide had not said, shortly, 
pointing his finger at them — " Devil." The whole afiair 
was a collection of confused carving in wood and stone, 
of gilding and tinsel, with distorted figures of human 
beings and animals. There was nothing to admire, and 
but little to wonder at, where absurdity and stupidity are 
the rule, and therefore, after a glance around, I put some 
buckskeesh in the guide's hand when he immediately, un- 
der the roof of the sanctuary, said, "You take some beer, 
good English beer." My companion and I assented for 
the novelty of the thing. He conducted us to his room 
in the court corner, took down a bottle of Scotch ale 
from a high shelf, and drew it for us. An old woman 
and another man came in and squatted on the brick floor 
— his mother and brother. We oftered our host and his 
relatives some of our ale, but they all declined, being 
Mohammedans. Double the usual price being charged 
for the prohibited Hquor, made the Mussulman's fee for 
showing the Chinese temple to Christian visitors. 

Among the individuals of whom the stranger first 
hears in Singapore, is Whampoa, the Chinese merchant. 
Not to allude to Whampoa would be to cast a doubt 
over one's having really been in Singapore. In the first 
place he has the reputation^ of being a strictly honest 
man, which, being a noble reputation everywhere, has the 
merit of being a particularly. rare one in the East. Of 
my own knowledge I can not speak to this fact. You 
will go to Whampoa's, and you will find him at his desk 
behind an inclosure in his ship-chandlery store, and will 
be introduced to a good looking, stout-bodied, round- 



SINGAPORE. 145 

faced, Chinese gentleman. In this apartment, settling 
bills, buying stores, or merely looking on, you will find 
English, French, and American officers, with citizens of 
all countries. The great attraction, however, is the sec- 
ond story. There, handsomely arranged in cases and 
shelves around the sides and through the centre of the 
apartment, are the shawls and embroideries of cashmere 
from India, sandal wood, card cases, boxes, work baskets 
handsomely inlaid in colored metals, carved ebony work. 
From China the hundred useful things and toys in ivory, 
sandal wood, silver, besides shawls, paintings, and silks ; 
and mingled with these are the products of western ele- 
gance and art. Whampoa has a handsome countxy resi- 
dence, amid sj^ice groves and gardens, about five miles 
from town. Here he entertains strangers with courteous 
hospitality, and very kindly, during his business avoca- 
tions in the city, gives visitors a ticket of admission to 
his house and grounds. With one of these tickets, three 
or four lines of Chinese characters run off rapidly with 
a brush up and down a piece of yellow blotting paper, I 
drove out there. The house was profusely furnished in 
a mingled Chinese and European style. Handsome cabi- 
nets of minerals and bijouterie ; paintings ; a good En- 
glish library, and one of Chinese books. N'othing could 
look more comfortable and appropriate than his sleeping 
apartment. The bedstead was in size a chamber itself, 
shut in by a fine gauze frame, and closed by a gauze 
door. The bed was covered with a fine mat, and around 
its side lay different styles of cushions and pillows. A 
punka was suspended across the bed, the cord of which 
led into an adjoining dressing-room. In his drawing-room 
the portrait of Commodore Perry was paired with that 
of Lord Nelson. 

Whampoa is a gentleman of many enterprises, and 
among them he has a flouring-mill which I had the curi- 

7 



14() THE VOYAGE OUT. 

osity to visit. It was alive with Chinamen, aE the opera, 
tions being carried on by hand. Chinamen ran round 
with the mill-stones by means of hand-spikes in the 
upper stone. The bolting was a very curious process. 
A section of a round piece of timber rested with its con- 
vex surface Hke a rocker upon the floor. On its upper 
flat surface was fixed a short board projecting a little over 
the edge of the rocker. A Chinaman, standing with a 
foot on each end of this board, by rapid motion of his legs 
up and down, agitated to and fro a lever connected with 
the bolting-cloth, and conveying to it the sifting motion. 
Every Chinaman, with the perspiration rolHng down his 
body, naked to the waist, was fanning himself in time 
with the rapid motion kept up by his legs. When but 
the lower part of the legs were concealed, as they were in 
most instances, by articles lying around the room, these 
men had the ridiculous appearance of dancing jigs and 
fanning themselves in competition wiih each other. The 
inference is, that Chinaman power is cheaper than that of 
steam in Singapore. 

The exports of Singapore are the same as those from 
Pinang, with the addition, to a large extent, of sago. A 
sago factory was next to the flour-mill of Whampoa. 
This was also thronged with laboring Chinese. The fec- 
ula of the sago palm is brought to Singapore in a crude 
state in mat baskets. It is here washed to snowy white- 
ness, and formed into the small pearls in which it is found 
in commerce by passing through sieves, and dried in 
ranges of pans set in a furnace. With the exception of 
a part of Sunday, one day was all the time I had for my 
observation of Singapore. At its close, after dining with 
our consul, Dr. Bradley, I returned to our ship, and the 
following day we started for Siam. 



F A N K W E I. 



II 



SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 



SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 



XIV. 

KINQDOM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 

At Singapore we were at another end of the earth, at 
a city within less than two degrees of the equator, and 
at the extreme point of Asia. Rounding this termination 
of the eastern continent, our way was now to that king- 
dom which lies immediately north of this Malayan pen- 
insula—the southern kingdom of the Asiatic continent, 
lying between the 6th and 20th degrees of north latitude, 
a territory bounded by mountains unexplored by civUiza- 
tion. but presenting the testimony of being rich in min- 
eral wealth. It is watered by the Menam, whose course 
is eight hundred miles, and much of it through luxuriant 
forests of the valuable teak wood, and plains of great fer- 
tility ; producing rice and sugar at the lowest cost of 
production, spices, and an abundance of the most choice 

fruits. 

All this old eastern world is very young. Its age is 
like that of the rock or tree-inclosed frog who is again 
born to the light after the centuries of structure which 
have grown around him falls beneath the ax or is shat- 
tered by the explosion of a new civilization. The teach- 
ers of that old eastern world are themselves but just 



150 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

born. The great Anglo-Saxon republic of Australia, and 
the other-day-planted republic of the same race on the 
western coast of America — when their power, commerce, 
civilization and Christianity are brought to bear upon the 
nations of Asia, who can anticipate the result ? How- 
ever, we people, older in all that which the world values, 
are already looking for that result and bringing it about. 
Hence the special mission of the Hon. Townsend Harris, 
Consul General to Japan, to this White Elephant kingdom. 

On Sunday, the 16th of April, we anchored in an ex- 
panse of muddy water, over whose surface, distant twelve 
or fourteen miles, could be seen the tops of the trees on 
the banks of the Menam. A few small native craft were 
lying off what we supposed to be the mouth of the river, 
and near our anchorage was a group of American, En- 
glish, Dutch and French ships. 

A boat and an officer were immediately detailed to visit 
the shore, announce our arrival, and make arrangements 
for the landing of the mission suite and presents. How- 
ever, some Americans who were visiting a ship at the 
anchorage came on board of us. They were about re- 
turning to the large city of Bangkok, distant forty-five 
miles, and the official communications were committed to 
them, and I sent a communication with which I had been 
intrusted to one of the brothers of the king, who was a 
physician, and member of the New York Academy of 
Medicine. The detail for accompanying the Commis- 
sioner was made out, including the marine guard and 
the band. 

All day Monday we expected some reply to the mes- 
sage sent up to Bangkok, but none came. Early on Tues- 
day morning, the quartermaster of the look-out reported 
the appearance of steam over the distant land, and this, 
as we inferred, was from a small steamer belonging to the 
King of Siam, coming down the Menam. In the course 



KINGDOM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 151 

of a few hours, this tiny commencement of the Mcnam's 
future steam marine, painted bright blue, came puffing 
towards us, as if worn out by her exertions. The bustle 
of preparation for the departure of our large party now 
commenced — the packing of trunks and bedding, cook- 
ing provisions and rations for the men. The steamer 
anchored near us, and our boats being sent her, brought 
to our ship the Pra Kallahone or Prime Minister of the 
kingdom, and suite of his younger brothers, sons, servants, 
sword-bearer, gold teapot, and betel-nut-box bearers. They 
are of a light mulatto color, short stature, light bodies, 
small features, but heavy stout limbs. Their teeth were 
jet black from the use of betel-nut and lime, while the 
saliva, colored by its use, crimsoned their mouths. They 
wore loose sarongs, or loin cloths, of rich silk, passing 
aroimd the hips and between the legs, one corner fast- 
ened by tucking in at the waist in front, and the other at 
the back, so that the loose side of the garment fell like 
full trowsers as low as the calf; the remainder of the legs 
and the feet were entirely bare. No upper garment is 
generally worn, except upon state occasions, and this being 
one of them, they wore silk jackets of bright colors. The 
head was bare, and with the hair cropped short, or shaved, 
all excepting three or four inches of top-knot on the front 
of the head, giving them the appearance of what are 
known as Polish chickens. The contrast between the rich 
silken jackets and sarongs, the cropped heads, black teeth, 
bloody-looking mouths, and bare feet, was very great. 

The scabbards of the swords and the betel-nut-boxes 
were of solid, handsomely-wrought gold, thickly studded 
with jewels, and were of native workmanship. The box 
borne by the prime minister's servant was nearly a foot 
long by about four inches broad, and two deep. Inside 
of it were several small boxes of wrought gold. 

One of the striking characteristics of the people, and 



152 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

prominently shown in this our first introduction to them, 
is the claim of rank and primogeniture. "No man of inferior 
position must be, in place or position, on the same level 
with his superior, and there are scarcely such relations 
among any as equals. If a superior appears, all inferiors 
seat themselves on the ground, or squat below him, with 
their feet concealed from view. If they are compelled to 
be in the same apartment, as in audience chambers, there 
are floors of elevation for each grade. Every man takes 
his meals at a small table by himself. The younger broth- 
ers kneel in addressing their elders, or handing any thing 
to them. 

The prime minister was walking along the deck of our 
ship, and his cigar became extinguished. He turned to 
one of his brothers, a stout young man, handsomely clad 
in silken sarong and blue silk jacket, and asked for a 
light ; the brother sank immediately to his knee, and re- 
mained in that i^osition until his distinguished relative had 
lighted his cigar and passed in. 

It is said that when Sir John Bowring was negotiating 
the British treaty, Sir John and his suite were seated in 
the room of a second story, and the Siamese, to reach it, 
must pass through the lower story, and consequently be- 
neath their visitors. To obviate the degradation of such 
a position, a ladder was placed at a window of the upper 
story, and by this the Siamese princes and nobles ascend- 
ed to the audience chamber. There were two lads of 
twelve or fourteen with the party. These lads were too 
young to have any specific title, but all young persons 
who are likely by birth to acquire title are called young 
" coons." They passed all over the shij), examining it 
Avith great care, and the prime minister and his son seem- 
ed to take special interest in every thing they saw. The 
young man was a naval architect, and had modeled and 
built the little blue steamer which brought them to us. 



158 



KINGDOM OF THE AVHITE ELEPHANT 

The CDgine they got out from the United States, and put 
together themselves, although they had no practical in- 
struction in engineering, or any other than casual infor- 
mants, or from books. The government is admmistered 
by two kings, who are brothers. The first king has a 
general control over all affairs, and the second king com- 
mands the military. According to the usage of the mon- 
archy, so far as there is any usage, the second kmg suc- 
ceeds the first upon his death ; but this right is not ad- 
mitted by the first king if he has heirs, and the matter 
would be decided by the nobles. Under other names 
these sovereigns hold the relations to each other of our 
President, Yice-President, and Commander-in-chief of the 
army. Under the name of Fa-Chou, the second kmg has 
been extensively known to foreigners and Americans, 
from his knowledge of the English language, its literature 

and science. 

The second king has, with his own hands, constructed 
a steam engine in all its parts. Both brothers have^ con- 
siderable attainments in astronomy, calculate eclipses, 
etc., and are members of the "Asiatic Astronomical 

Societv." . .,, , - 

The proper names and titles of these prmces will be 
seen when we come to the treaty, and Chou-Fa is a gen- 
eral term for those princes who are noble by both parents. 
Our visitors remained with us several hours, partook 
of refreshments, and finally took their leave, giving us no 
satisfaction as to our future movements, and making all 
our hurried preparation useless. Mr. Parkes, who brought 
out the Enghsh ratified treaty, is still here, and has been 
for some weeks endeavoring to launch it into successful 
operation, in which he has found some difficulty and many 
obstacles. Mr. Parkes is uncertain when he will get 
through. The presence of this gentleman is no doubt 
some obstacle to our negotiations being commenced. He 



154 , SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

occupies the best quarters ; and, although they have 
built large bamboo houses for the accommodation of our 
own and the French mission, the prime minister said we 
would not be so comfortable in them as in that now occu- 
pied by the British envoy. I suspect they do not want 
too much on their hands at once ; and soon the French 
mission will be pressing them. 

They must be impressed with their increasing impor- 
tance to the western powers. This treaty-making is a 
difficult and responsible business among such a people. It 
is contrary to the traditions, notions and habits of the 
masses to be in appearance surrendering rights to foreign 
poAvers, and especially western powers. It is contrary to 
the interest of the nobles to be opening for general com- 
petition a trade of which they now have the monopoly. 
The enlightenment and education of the two kings, being 
so far in advance of their nation, may prove their ruin. It 
may be regarded as the evidence of treachery to the inter- 
ests of the nation, or incompetency to comprehend them. 
The first king, in his character of Buddhist priest, has ex- 
punged from their books the cosmogony, retaining only the 
moral precepts, because the teachings of that cosmogony 
were adverse to the introduction of western science. 

We well know that no important treaty is made, or other 
political step taken, among civilized nations, without ex- 
citing the hostility and opposition of certain parties and 
factions. The same influences necessarily agitate these 
semi-civilized nations ; and many who, before the making 
of one treaty, might be favorable to it, might, by the rival- 
ries and jealousies of its progress, disappointment in pres- 
ents, etc., be thrown into opposition to another ; so that I 
am prepared to expect more difficulties in our negotiations 
than now appear, unless great address is used in meeting 
them. After the departure of* our visitors, to whom we 
gave a salute with the Siamese flag at the fore, there was 



KINGDOM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 155 

great impatience got up on board at our detention. Ship- 
board weariness, lying in this monotonous gulf, was ex- 
cessive. We are now within a few days of our letters, 
and anxious to reach them ; and various indignant and 
belligerent opinions burst forth. 

" Well, if I had this treaty to make," said one, " I 
would just say to them, ' I have only so many days to 
stay, and if the treaty is not made by that time, I shall 
clear out.' " 

" But," it was replied, " they may answer, ' You came 
here seeking us, and forcing this negotiation upon us, and 
have the same freedom to go as you had to come.' " 

" Then I should go," said another. " A treaty with such 
a country as this can be no advantage to us." 

" Not worth a damn," says a third. 

" The statesmen of three such commercial powers as 
the United States, England and France, appear to think 
differently, by the costly squadrons, the presents, and the 
large salaried envoys they send here treaty seeking," was 
the answer to this ship-board diplomacy. 

The betel-nut chewing — the semi-nude nobility — the 
excessive reverence for age and rank, and all its formal 
external manifestations, were things to wonder at in con- 
trast with our own usages ; and called from many expres- 
, sions of contempt as evidences of barbarism ; but I could 
imagine a Siamese going home and relating his experience 
of a visit to our ship. I can see him take a seat on his 
cool mat, surrounded by his large family, and say, " It is 
wonderful that a people who have acquired so much skill 
in building ships, and make so many useful instruments, 
should yet be so stupid and benighted in many of the 
usages which make life comfortable ; and I am not sur- 
prised that they desire association with us, to learn some 
of our wise customs." 

The old gentleman now stops for breath, and makes a 



156 . SI AM AND THE SIAMESE. 

sign to one of the females sitting around him. She handed 
liim an elegantly-wrought golden box, tinted with reddish 
hues. Looking at it for a moment before he opened it, 
he said, " Among their rich presents, I have seen nothing 
equal to our skill in gold, or to the elegance of this box." 

Opening it he took from it a pawn, of which it contained 
several. The pawn is a globe of green fresh leaf, contain- 
ing the betel-nut preparation. They are prepared by the 
females, and deposited all ready in the betel-nut-box. 

" Instead," continued the old gentleman, " of this bra- 
cing nut, mingled with fragrant spices, and tinging the 
mouth Vermillion, they fill their mouths with the poison 
tobacco plant, made more black and disgusting by some 
mode of preparation. It makes the saUva flow from their 
mouths in dark yellow streams ; and all about their rooms 
they have small vessels to catch the offensive fluid and to 
receive the black remains of the tobacco, whose juices 
have been pressed out by their teeth. These, in their 
very harsh language, are called quids." 

" Horrible beasts !" exclaimed Ronta, the ebony-teethed 
and pinky-lipped favorite wife. 

" Do such wretches have any other wives than those 
they buy ?" asked Mou, the last and youngest addition to 
the harem. 

"I have not told you the worst," replied their lord. 
" The physician informed me that the effect of this poison 
was to make them weak and trembling, to take away the 
desire for food, and to keep them wakeful and restless ; 
but such is their devotion to this poison, that they even 
leave the company of their wives to enjoy it, it being 
against theu' laws to have the vessel for holding the yel- 
low spittle in the same rooms with their wives." 

"That," said Ronta, "must be to keep their wives 
from enjoying whatever pleasures their husbands find in 
the poison." 



KINGDOM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 157 

"Were I the king, I woiild make no treaty with such 
filthy barbarians," said Mou. ,, . ^. 

" They have no idea," said the old gentleman, ol the 
use of garments. Instead of dressing themselves for com- 
fort, decency and cleanhness, they envelop all parts ot 
the person, those which show its symmetry and health, m 
close, heavy garments, hiding all blemishes, and ret am- 
ine the moistm-e of the skin about it instead of allowmg 
them to be swept away by the free atmosphere, or washed 
away by the free and daily bathing which we use." 

"How," asked Ronta, "do they manage such filthy 
arrangements ?" 

"It was a great mystery to me, but I was very particu- 
lar to mquire, and wrote it all down on a piece of paper." 
He took the golden box, turning up the pawns ; m the bot- 
tom were several folds of paper, from which he read as 

follows : r. 

" ' First, they draw on the feet two long cotton bags, 
pressing the toes together ; over this they draw a long cot- 
ton garment, which ties with strings around the lower parts 
of the legs, and shuts them up in two tight bags, keepmg 
the blood up in the legs until the veins almost burst.' " 

"Terrible!" breathed out the listeners, with rapt at- 
tention. , . 

" 'Then ' went on the narrator, 'they draw over this 
a long: woolen garment, which, with thick folds, comes up 
around the middle of the body, and fastens with heavy 
straps and buckles across the shoulders. Before putting 
over these straps, they take a light loose cotton jacket, 
which would be almost as pleasant as our own if they per- 
mitted it to hang loosely, but they tuck it in tightly around 
their hot and constrained bodies, and over this they fasten 
a gloomy, dark-colored, woolen garment, covenng them 
from the hips to the hands in its close folds.' " 

"But that," asked Ronta, "is only in their own horrid 



158 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

country, where the sun does not shine and the running 
water turns to stone ?" 

"You fool, you, no! I've not been there, and I tell 
you what I saw under the burning sun of Siam. They do 
make these outer garments sometimes of white cotton, 
but it is only by stealth. I beheve it is against the pre- 
cepts of their religion to do so, and I shall record in the 
annals of Siam that those who dress in white are outcasts 
and heretics. Poor wretches, how I pity them ! 

" I have not read you yet about what they put on their 
heads." 

" Their heads ! why, do n't they leave them exposed to 
the free air ?" 

" Not at all. They put on their heads black, iron-look- 
ing things with rims, which look as though they would 
make good rice ]Dots, or they cover them up with thick 
folds of cotton and cloth, with a stiff piece of leather in 
front." " 

" How stupid I" 

" By close observation and some inquiry, I ascertained 
that there was a mysterious meaning in these garments, 
which led the poor people to endure them, notwithstand- 
ing their filthy and uncomfortable character. There really 
seemed to be more in the dress than in the unhappy be- 
ings to whom it belonged. 

" There is a kind of officer among them who walks all 
day on the deck of the ship and sees everything properly 
done. I was talking to one of these officers just before 
he was called to his post. It was in a lower chamber, and 
he had on the unlawful white clothes. Wlien they called 
him to go up on the deck he pulled off his white jacket. 
I was glad to see that, as I thought he would be cooler ; 
but then he put on one of the dark woolen jackets with 
heavy metal buttons, and looked terribly hot and uncom- 
fortable as he walked up and down in the hot sun." 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 159 

Such, possibly, may be the Siamese criticism upon our 
habits, corresponding to that we pass upon them. 

After the departure of our noble friends, time hung in 
heavy monotony and hourly expectancy until Thursday 
morning, when we were boarded by a large boat with 
mat sails and two rudders, one on each side of the sharp 
stern. Its appearance was announced by the clamor of 
Siamese, the squealing of pigs and the mingled cries of 
ducks and fowls. It proved a boat of presents from the 
king. Twelve hundred pounds of sugar, four chests of fine 
tea, piles of fruit, and hundreds of cocoa-nuts and fowls, 
with four pigs, all to keep us in good humor while we 
waited the slow progress of diplomacy. 



XY. 

THE W^HITJK ELEPHANT AT HOME. 

Eaklt on the morning of April 21st, two enormous 
teak-wood boats or canoes, and the little sky-blue steamer 
were seen approaching our ship. The canoes were man- 
ned by from thirty to forty rowers in crimson jackets and 
caps, and from various points of the canoes bright-colored 
small silk banners were fluttering in the breeze — some 
blue, some white, and others crimson. .The bow and 
stern of the boats were built up high, and in the centre, 
dividing the rowers into two bodies fore and aft, was a 
small house, or roofed shed, for the passengers. There 
are no seats in Siamese boats ; a mat, a Persian rug, and 
a hard triangular leather pillow to support the back, or 
throw the arm over in a semi-recumbent posture, is the 
mode. 

A small schooner which had previously come down, 
was hauled alongside the San Jacinto to receive the 
presents, and all was again in a stir and bustle of prepara- 



160 - SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

tion for our departure. With our baggage, some extem- 
porized bedding, and stores of provisions, we were all on 
board the steamer, with a name as long as herself, " The 
Royal Seat of Siamese Naval Force," and under way for 
the Menam by half-past ten o'clock. The marine guard, 
with Lieutenant Tyler in command, had gone ahead in 
the boats with the crimson rowers and bright flags. 

Mr. Harris, the Consul General, Commodore Armstrong, 
Lieutenants Levtds, Rutledge, Carter, Assistant Surgeon 
Daniels, Chief Engineer Isherwood, the secretaries to Mr. 
Harris and to the Commodore, Mr. Heuskin and Mr. 
Vanden Heuvel, with the band and our servants, com- 
posed the party in the steamer. This vessel looked 
scarcely more than a toy, and not competent to carry 
such a i^arty in addition to the natives already on board. 
We however stowed in her small cabin snugly, the band 
in her bows. As we steamed away from the San Jacinto, 
her battery poured forth a salute to the President's letter, 
to the Consul General, to the Commodore, or all together. 
The band struck up " Hail Columbia," which was changed 
into " God Save the Queen" as we passed under the stern 
of Her Majesty's brig Saracen, which dipped her ensign 
in acknowledgment of the compliment. On our way in, 
we passed several merchant ships at anchor, all of which 
were being loaded by Mr. King, an enterprising Ameri- 
can merchant of Bangkok, and also lines of fishing-stakes, 
around which were Siamese boats receiving the gather- 
ings of the nets. Li about two hours and a half of puffing 
and paddling, we were passing between the low, green, 
mangrove-covered shores which form the mouth of the 
Menam, the muddy waters of which were clouding those 
of the gulf some miles out. On our left lay a large 
Siamese ship which had missed the channel and run 
aground. To shun such accident our pilots sounded their 
way with bamboo poles. At a short distance above the 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 161 

mouth of the river, the Siamese flag was floating from a 
look-out station. This flag, nationally, is a white elephant 
upon a red ground. The king's individual banner, in 
yellow upon a green ground, represents the throne in the 
centre, between two of what are called the royal umbrel- 
las. There are from five to nine circles supported on a 
staff, and diminishing in size upward. These wheels are 
covered with embroidered silk or gold cloth, which hangs 
in a curtain about a foot deep from the circumference of 
each circle. About four miles . from the entrance of the 
Menam is the town of Packnam, and as we drew near it 
long lines of white fortifications were seen glittering in 
the sun, and through their embrasures were jutting the 
muzzles of large-sized cannon. These fortifications are 
built of brick and white-washed. Their brilliant whiteness 
was strongly contrasted with the surrounding and equally 
brilliant green of the rich and heavy vegetation. 

As we drew near the landing, our band crashing forth 
its loud harmony, it was difficult to look at any thing else 
than the mass of yellow-skinned humanity lying crouched 
upon the banks, watching in silent interest the strangers 
who had come from a far western world to form more 
extended relations with them. This mutual and earnest 
gaze of Anglo-American and Siamese, has a future for 
both people beyond the curiosity of the moment. Our 
steamer anchored in the stream ; and a boat, with a 
small wooden house built in the middle, came off to us. 
In the house was an officer who, from his glittering cos- 
tume, might be one of importance. He was a sallow, 
old, attenuated creature, dressed in a caricature of Euro- 
pean military costume, bedizened with gold and silver 
tinsel, with epaulets on his shoulders, and diamond- 
shaped figures of ruby-colored glass set, like rows of but- 
tons on each side of the breast of his bright silk coat. I 
am amused now at the stately stiffness with which we all 



162 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

sat to receive poor old Gabrielle, not certain which was 
the great man, whether we were or he was. This mili- 
tary-looking gentleman was one of the descendants of 
the early and proud Portuguese settlers. They still call 
themselves Christians, and attend a Catholic chapel which 
sometimes flies a flag with the words " Vivat Jesus ;" 
but they have assimilated with and degenerated below 
the Siamese, are all in the service of the king, although 
they have a head and officers of their own to administer 
their aflairs. Our visitor was next to the chief of these 
Christians, but notwithstanding this high position, and 
all his finery, he held a very humble Siamese appoint- 
ment. He came aboard as a messenger on the part of 
the governor of Packnam, to tender us welcome, and 
to say a feast was prepared for us. Afterwards, in our 
association with the old gentleman, we found him useful 
and willing in any humble service. The Siamese are said 
to have some wit, and I could almost believe there was 
an intention of satire in their dressing up this caricature 
of a man in such a caricature of our costume, epaulets 
and all. How much more elegant and simple to their 
eyes must seem the ample folds of rich silks around the 
loins, with their naked busts ^nd limbs ; a contrast the 
more marked, when he was, as I have since often seen 
him, crawling in all his silk and tinsel, on hands and 
knees, at the feet of some half naked noble ! 

Guided by this gilded Gabrielle, we landed on the soil 
of Siam. A guard in crimson coats, white trowsers and 
English soldier caps was drawn up in two lines at the land- 
ing, and as we passed through them they rolled drums 
and presented arms to an order given in English. We 
passed on a short distance to a palm-leaf and bamboo 
building open at all sides, the roof supported on posts and 
ceiled with white muslin. The floor was a series of plat- 
forms rising one above another, so that the inferior ranks 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 163 

should not be upon a level with the higher. In the 
middle of the highest floor a dinner-table was set out 
in European style — white table-cloth, napkins, wine- 
glasses, porcelain and decanters of wines. We were here 
received by two of our first acquaintances, the visitors to 
the ship, the stout, good-looking brother of the Pra Kalla- 
hone, or prime minister, and Pra-nai-wai, the Pra Kalla- 
hone's son. These individuals were dressed in their silken 
jackets, were attended by their retinues, and the bearers 
of the golden vessels belonging to their rank. There being 
none superior to them here, they had the privilege of 
sitting upon chairs, although afterwards I have seen these 
same men crouching and crawling in presence of their 
superiors. The dinner was immediately served, and was 
very abundant, being a roast pig, boar's head, chickens, 
ducks, various curries, shrimps and crabs. There was a 
dessert of puddings, preserves, confectionery and orna- 
mental cakes, and jellies of rice, flour, eggs and sugar. 
Fruits followed this, of which there were a great vari- 
ety, the best, however, being the mango. Tea and cofiee 
were served, and cocoa-nut milk in young cocoa-nuts from 
which the husk had been stripped and the top cut into a 
circular lid. Dinner was prepared for the marine guard 
and band in separate sheds. The dishes for our table were 
kept, until placed upon it, under conical covers made of 
some light frame-work covered with red cotton cloth. 
These covers were, I afterwards found, in very general use, 
being on sale in many of the shops, and placed on the 
brass trays on which dishes and delicacies were sent as 
presents.* 

It was expected that from this boat we would go up the 
river in a number of the long boats, such as brought in 

* During our meal, all the descending platform of our apartment 
was a throng of Siamese men, women and children sitting on the floor 
and looking silently upon us. 



164 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

the guard from the ship, and several of them appeared to 
be gathered at Packnam for the purpose ; but we had 
found ourselves so comfortable in the steamer, that we 
concluded to continue in her to Bangkok. Taking the 
marines from the long boat into the steamer, we were all 
again under way about three o'clock, leaving Packnam 
under a salute from the battery. Pra-nai-wai saw us aboard, 
and left our steamer just as we got under way. We had 
now about twenty-five miles to go, the river being very 
tortuous and about five hundred yards in width. The 
banks were fringed with the desert jungle vegetation. 
One species of the bamboo grew to a lofty and feathery 
tree. Groves of various palms everywhere drooped their 
gracefully- curving branches. In the background they 
crowned the top of the tall and slender areca-tree, and 
close along the water's edge a dwarf variety shot up 
clusters of leaves, curving like illumes, directly from the 
root. As we ran close along first one and then the other 
bank of the river, we saw beneath these dark, green 
groves, and lying among their branches, countless men, 
women and children, looking like river animals who had 
crawled upon the shore. Through openings in the trees 
we could see their sharp-roofed bamboo and palm-leaf 
huts, built up five or six feet from the ground on poles, 
with a ladder to reach the door ; and all along were tied 
their boats, their principal and almost sole means of pass- 
ing to and fro. At frequent intervals we passed narrow 
wharves or platforms of planks pushing through the trees 
to the river's side, and these were crowded with boys and 
men with shaved heads, and yellow cotton mantles over 
their shoulders. These were Buddhist priests and no- 
vitiates belonging to some wat or temple planted amid 
groves in the background. Occasionally we would see 
several of the neat-looking salas, an open hall with tiled 
roof supported on white-washed brick and stucco pillars — 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 165 

a kind of garden summer-house for shade and rest — which 
is freely planted through the grounds of the wats, and 
give them a pleasant and ornamental appearance. Our 
band was the first one of western music ever heard upon 
the Menam, and as we passed along its waters our ap- 
proach was made known to the natives by the notes of its 
bugles and drums, sounding, besides our national airs, 
German waltzes, the " Old Dog Tray," " Old Folks at 
Home," etc., etc. 

We passed in the river, some under way and some at 
anchor, several large vessels, barks, and ships, which had 
been lightened sufficiently to go over the bar. Most of 
them bore the Siamese flag, but one fine ship carried our 
own. At Paeklat we passed another extensive range of 
fortifications, similar in appearance to those at Packnam. 
Here a boat came alongside, with a present of fruit from 
the governor. It was all sent on board in trays or tables 
of sheet-brass, about eighteen inches high, and two feet 
diameter, with pedestals of the same metal cut into open- 
work figures ; a narrow border of similar work ran 
around the top. A great quantity of the smaller fruits 
— lichis, mangoes, etc., were sent aboard in these 
trays, besides a boat-load of water-melons and cocoa- 
nuts. 

At a point on the river, some distance above Paeklat, 
two of the large boats we bad seen at Packnam came 
shooting through the bushes of the right bank. They 
had by a canal, accessible only to such boats, cut off a 
large curve which we were compelled to make, and they 
came upon the river with loud shouts of triumph at their 
success in overtaking us. 

Day was just closing as we ran alongside the bank at 
the lower end of the city. Here were the quarters which 
the king had caused to be erected for us, and to which we 
were welcomed by Mr. King, several of the missionaries, 



166 , SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

and Pra-nai-wai himself, who had succeeded in reaching 
here as soon as we. 

Our quarters were a collection of uew^-dried palm-leaf 
and bamboo houses, inclosed by a bamboo fence, with a 
flag-staff planted in front of the gate. The whole place 
was lighted up, and in the large central room an inviting- 
looking table was set, with a handsome silver and porce- 
lain service, and just the number of plates and chaii'S for 
our party. Before the dinner or supper is ready we shall 
have time to look round the premises. The main building 
was set on posts ten feet high, so that there was a clear 
open space underneath, giving the soldiers and men a 
shady retreat during the heat of the day. This building 
contained one large central dining and sitting-room, with 
two smaller rooms for pantry, servants, and stores at each 
end. Outside of this, at the back and one end, w-ere open 
galleries or passages, along which were ranged the sleep- 
ing apartments, those at the back having a covered hall be- 
tween the rooms and the open passage. At one end of each 
passage was a bath-room, with several large jars of water 
for bathing, according to the method of this country, the 
water being poured over the person, and running through 
the planks to the ground beneath. One suite of sleeping 
apartments was divided by a portable Chinese partition 
of carved and painted wood work. The other rooms, and 
all the remainder of the building, were inclosed and divided 
by dried palm-leaves, neatly and smoothly laid into bam- 
boo frames. The roof was of the same material, and the 
whistling of the wind through the dried leaves had the 
sound of a heavy pouring rain.* There was not a nail or 
piece of iron in the whole structure, all being laid up by 
notching, mortising, and lashing. The rain poured in 

* The windows were railed with light bamboo rods, and the shutters 
of close palm-leaf thatch, swung from tlie top, and opened by propping 
out the lower end, so as to screen against sun or rain. 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 167 

torrents during our first week, and yet our temporary- 
home was quite dry. The slender stock of bedding which 
we had brought along, in case of necessity, was not need- 
ed, for every room was supplied with a high-posted bed- 
stead, mattrass, and pillows, and hung with green silk 
gauze mosquito curtains, and ornamented with two slips 
of silk a foot wide, one blue, one crimson, tacked along 
the edge of the tester. 

There was a separate and lower building, though still 
elevated from the ground, for the marines and musicians, 
and another for the kitchen. A new, light mattrass, made 
of white muslin, with red edges, fiUed with a light silk cot- 
ton ; a mat, mosquito curtain, and pillow, were all ready 
for every man and servant. 

All the cooks, servants, and the provisions of this estab- 
lishment, together with three boats, with from twenty to 
thirty rowers, or rather paddlers, in each, were furnished 
by the king. And the expense of our reception and en- 
tertainment must have more than equaled the value of 
our presents to the king. 

On the morning following our arrival we ran the Amer- 
ican flag up at the flag-staff, played "Hail Columbia," 
" Yankee Doodle," the " Star-Spangled Banner," and 
made ourselves at home in Siam. A few nails knocked 
into the posts of my room, two empty packing-boxes 
tacked over with brown paper — one for a table and one 
for a closet — made my room quite snug and comfortable. 

ISTow we may look about us and catch the general ap- 
pearance of this Bangkok — this city of four hundred thou- 
sand Siamese and Chinese. We find that our quarters 
are on a point with one of the city canals running close 
up to our fence on the right, and a broad ditch bounding 
us as closely upon the left, while back of us is a closely- 
built, confused jumble of native thatched houses, without 
apparent street, lane, or alley between them. So that by 



168 ^ SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

land we are prisoners. But before us rolls the broad Me- 
nam, and the king, as stated, has placed boats and men 
at our disposal. Even in these we are not free. In the 
" land of the free" we felt at once the hand of oriental 
despotism. With each boat is an obliging individual as 
director, captain, or interjDreter. When we want a boat 
manned, we hint it to him, and it is done. These men 
are all Portuguese, speak Portuguese, some Spanish, and 
a little English. Courteously, they are our interpreters 
and guides; loyally, they are close spies upon all our 
words and movements. At the close of the day their 
report is given in — the places and the persons we have 
visited, our gestures, expressions, mood, tempers, words, 
so far as understood, if only a single one ; and I am told 
by one familiar with the secrets of this espionage, that 
the accuracy with which character and the tenor of con- 
versation will be inferred from such fragmentary reports, 
is astonishing. 

But we are all now in a good humor ; we have sights 
to see, are not in the spirit of treason, and may furnish 
the materials of a report favorable to ourselves and coun- 
try. Old gilded Gabrielle, in more simple attire, is our guide 
for the day, and he and I have entered into such pleasant 
relations, that he has begged me to leave him my old 
shoes to attend mass in, and I have bought of him a red 
flannel chicken cock, made by a female of his household, 
at three times its value, and upon which the custom-house 
appraisers at New York, not appreciating my intentions 
to favor our relations with the Siamese, made me pay du- 
ties at twice its cost. Under such favorable auspices, we 
get into the wooden house in the middle of the boat, draw 
up the curtains which shut in its open sides and back, sit 
upon the Persian rug and mat, leaning against the triang- 
ular morocco cushions, the rows of half-naked men ranged 
along each side of the boat strike their paddles into the 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 169 

water, and with animating shouts shoot us out uppn the 
Menam. These loud cries are the peculiar privilege of 
persons and boats of consequence ; and when the king is 
making a progress on the water, they are rung out in the 
loudest tones from his boat. 

We are now upon the literally Broadway of Bangkok. 
Instead of omnibuses, horses and carriages, it is thronged 
with boats of various forms and use. Its shops are lines 
of small houses of wood, with palm-leaf roofs resting on 
bamboo rafts or floats, all along each bank, rising and 
falling with the tide. They have each a small platform 
before them, and the whole front is open, exposing the 
neatly arranged shelves and counters of goods — mostly 
from China : silks, muslins, chests of tea, lacquered ware ; 
and also the products of the country : ivory, deer horns, 
skeletons and skins of tigers and leopards, snake and 
shark skins. The skeletons and the snake skins are ex- 
ported to China for medical uses. Some of these houses 
are tin and leather shops, these being generally combined ; 
some are eating-houses, with strings of peppers, dressed 
poultry, and slices of fresh pork suspended invitingly in 
front. Most of them are the dwellings as well as busi- 
ness places of their proprietors ; some are solely dwelling 
houses ; and many wealthy persons who have their dwell- 
ings back on the solid ground, have a floating store in 
front. Canoes and boats are fastened to the projecting 
platform ; little children are running about them, or playing 
on their very edge, and almost at every hour some mem- 
ber of the family may be seen taking a bath by dipping 
buckets of water from the river and pouring over their 
persons without any change in their usual attire. 

Beyond these river houses, and a confused mingling of 
tiled roofs just on the shore back of them, we see very 
little of the habitations of Bangkok, as they are hidden 
beneath the thick groves of trees and shrubbery covering 

8 



170 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

the rich alhivial plain. These houses are generally built 
on jDosts, and are either of atap, the palm-leaf, or of wood 
framed in panels. The roofs, either palm-leaf or red tiles, 
have a very steep pitch, and their edges at the gables are 
faced with plank, meeting in a sharp peak above. These 
sharp points are seen, here and there, sticking above the 
leaves. Some of the better houses are built of brick, 
stuccoed and painted, and have their grounds inclosed 
with brick and plaster walls. Those of the nobles are 
generally of this character, as are also the dwellings of 
the wealthier Chinamen. In every direction flag-staffs 
are seen. These are in the grounds of the nobles, each 
one of whom flies his own banner and devices.. 

A most conspicuous, indeed, the commanding feature 
6f Bangkok, is the roofs of the wats, and their graceful pa- 
goda S23ires or pra-da-chis. These wats are surrounded by 
grounds of from twenty to thirty acres, through which are 
built the salas, or resting places, and numerous temples. 
The roofs of these temples are in sight on both sides of 
the river. They are built very high, the ridge being, in 
some, one hundred feet, and are, in most instances, a suc- 
cession of roofs, three or four in number, with the pitch 
of the legs of the letter A, diminishing in size both from 
the gables and the eaves, as one roof rises a few feet 
above the other. Each corner of each roof and ridge is 
surmounted by a curving, horn-shaped j)rojection. The 
whole are covered with gold and green-colored, glazed 
tiles. One roof will be a field of gold, with borders of 
white and green ; and another, a green field with golden 
borders ; and the whole of the gable ends or fronts of 
these temples, are massively gilded over figured stucco 
work. As we passed the grounds of one of these tem- 
ples, the many white-columned salas, or summer-houses, 
the white, needle-like spires of the pra-da-chis, the sur- 
rounding flowers and shrubbery, the figured and gilded 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. l^l 

gable fronts of both the salas and the lofty temples, and 
bright cornices rising one above another, all the roofs of 
green and gold glittering in a bright sun, presented a scene 
of splendor which one could well wish was the proof and 
the product of a national elegance and prosperity, rather 
than, as it is, the result of an absorbing superstition. Far 
up the river, at least two miles from our quarters, we see 
the lofty pagoda of one of their principal wats rising, 
not with a needle spire, but with a rounded steeple sum- 
mit, to the height of two hundred and fifty feet. Such is 
the general appearance of Bangkok, as we see it from the 
river. 

But our most animated scene is on the river itself. Ships 
and junks are anchored in the stream. Some of these junks 
are enormous masses of timber of a thousand tons burden, 
and almost defy description. The bottom is a large square 
scow, upon which are built sides of heavy plank ; the bow 
end of each side is rounded off like the runners of a boy's 
sled, but all the square bow is open to the winds, the 
waves and the water gods, for whose admission it is left 
so ; and in this open space lies the anchor, made all of 
wood nearly as heavy as iron. The middle of the sides of 
this craft are open chasms, down almost to the water edge. 
Through these the cargo is taken in, and then they are 
closed for sea by gates let down into grooves. The stern 
is built up into platforms of cabins ; and three heavy, 
naked sticks, without yards, make the masts. Every junk 
has its joss-house, or temple, and each with a lamp steadily 
burning to make offerings to the god. The whole vessel 
glares in bright paint outside, and is black and rank with 
filth inside. The sides are generally bright red, with two 
large eyes in the rounded terminations of the front. The 
stern is a confused mingling of dragons, gods, etc., in 
green, yellow, red and white paint. The rudder is a 



172 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

heavy mass of timber, about ten feet square, and swings 
in a wide opening in the stern. 

The junks now before us have about completed their 
cargoes, and are ready for the south-west monsoon, which 
is just commencing. As they can sail only with the wind, 
of course they make but one voyage a year, going with 
one monsoon and returning with the other. Sapan wood 
seems the chief cargo of the junks now before us, and it is 
piled up in every part of the vessel, and suspended in large 
bundles over the sides. 

The small boats crowding the river, gliding rapidly with 
the favoring tide, or struggling against it, are frail tiny 
toy and graceful canoes, in the centre of which sits a man 
or woman bringing the boat to within an inch of the 
water, and requiring a lifetime of practice to keep the 
thing from upsetting or filling. But this lifetime of prac- 
tice they all have, for we see in some of these canoes a 
naked child or children, not more than six or eight years 
of age. Another form of boat, somewhat larger, may be 
regarded as the family carriage ; the front and bows are 
open for from one to two paddles in each, but the middle 
is rounded over, and completely inclosed by a basket 
work of wattled bamboo, painted and water-tight. This 
basket apartment generally accommodates two persons. 
The after part is permanently closed with a wooden screen 
having a round window or port in it, and the front has a 
curtain to be drawn at pleasure. 

Large boats of this kind are the dwelling places and 
shops of whole families. The substitution, for the matted 
cover, of a small wooden house, with open-curtained or 
Venetian-closed sides, makes a better class of boat ; and 
these vary in size from two to four paddles of plain indi- 
viduals, up to the large and noisy crew of between twenty 
and thirty of the state and aristocratic boats, such as are 
now paddling us through these scenes of the Menam. In 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 173 

the larger boats, they are propelled by the men sitting 
along each side, and dipping the paddles close to the boat. 
Where there are a small number of rowers, a compromise 
is made between a paddle and an oar. A short, strong 
staff, about eighteen inches high, is set into the side of the 
boat, and the oar works in a strong cord which fastens it 
to the top of this staff. The oar has a short handle on its 
upper end, at right angles to its length ; the rowers, gen- 
erally one in the stern and one in the bow on opposite 
sides, standing up and grasping the oars with their left 
hands, the handle with their right, propel and steer the 
boat at the same time. As many, if not more females 
than males, exposing the whole upper part of the person, 
are seen rowing these boats ; and often two females will 
be seen laboring in the sun at the oar, while a lazy whelp 
of a Siamese husband is lying in the shade of the covered 
part of the boat. We have passed many boats of the 
shape of half an egg, divided lengthwise ; two Chinamen, 
one in the bow and one in the stern, with broad-rimmed, 
sharp, conical-crowned bamboo hats, are paddling it, sit- 
ting with their legs turned under them ; and between the 
two the open deck is piled neatly with dry-goods, kept in 
place by boxes of ribbons, needles and other small wares. 
Similar boats are laden with crockery, brass and tin ware ; 
these are the equivalents for the peddlers' wagons of the 
United States — Chinese peddhng boats. Here comes a 
single peddler, seated among plates and pans, with a small 
furnace, stews odorous of garlic and onions, and the raw 
material to prepare them — a peddling cook shop. N'ow a 
much neater boat is approaching us, of which the sole oc- 
cupant and proprietor is a woman. In front, laid up in 
neat circles, are piles of fresh green leaves, and behind 
them are large jars filled up with beautiful pink pasty 
masses looking hke strawberry ice-cream. She is a vend- 
or of the cirrhi, or pepper leaves, and the colored lime 



174 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

for smearing them with, as they are rolled around the 
betel-nut for chewing. Now we are passing by a line of 
large basket-covered boats fastened close to the shore, in 
the front of which are exposed for sale, vessels of eggs, 
onions, strings of pod pepper, beeswax, etc. ; small gro- 
cery stores, with the family living under the basket roof; 
and many canoes are passing about with covered jars in 
them, the paddler, woman or boy, crying out, in monot- 
onous tones, the articles for sale. 

In such a crowded and busy thoroughfare, there seems 
to be but one law of the road, and that is, that the smaller 
boats must keep out of the way of the larger ones, or take 
the consequences. If a woman with all her stock in trade 
is upset, no one takes any notice of her, but all leave her 
to right her boat and look out for herself; and the very 
boat in which we are making this excursion, ran into and 
upset a canoe in which were two smaU boys ; passing on 
without the least attention to the accident. I looked 
back, and was glad to see that one had reached the plat- 
form of a floating house near by, and the other was 
quietly swimming, laughing and pushing his canoe before 
him. Siamese are at home in the water, and scarcely ever 
drown. 

One of the preliminary stejjs of the negotiations to be 
carried on, was calling upon some of the principal and 
most influential nobles. Accordingly, on the afternoon of 
the second day of our arrival, Mr. Harris, accompanied by 
Mr. Mattoon, and two or three other officers and myself, 
proceeded to the house of the Grand Prah Klan, or min- 
ister of foreign afiairs. 

The entrance to his house was through a heavy gate- 
way to an open marble-paved court, ornamented with 
stucco figures of men and animals carved in stone, with a 
few va.ses of flowers and shrubs. From this we passed 
into the house, the front of which, supported on pillars. 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 175 

was oiDen to the court. The floors rose in the usual 
ascending platforms, and on the highest, which was car- 
peted, were two rows of chairs for twelve persons facing 
each other; at the upper end of the chairs a table and 
seat, or divan behind it. The more domestic or private 
parts of the house were behind this reception room, the 
openings to it screened by curtains, common engravings 
and mirrors. 

The Prah Klan, about forty years of age, was a heavy, 
solid, sober-faced man, dressed in a blue figured silk man- 
tle, fastened around the waist by a yellow silk sash, and 
received us in an easy and dignified manner, but seemed, 
disappointed that a larger number of ofiicers had not 
come, and immediately inquired the reason. He signed 
us to the chairs, and took his seat on the divan. His 
subordinates and retainers were lying around, crouched 
upon the floor, and just ofiT from one side, on his knees, 
was a man with a large feather fan at the end of a long 
handle ; this he would bring down slowly towards his 
master, and then make a sudden dash, as if casting a 
current of air upon him, which is the true principle of 
fanning, instead of continuous uniform motions. 

After a few common-places of opening conversation, he 
at once entered upon the subject of the treaty, and said, 
" There would be no difficulty in regard to it." 

The commissioner said he thought there could be 
none, as the British treaty of Sir John Bowring would be 
the basis. 

" No more than that yielded could be granted," re- 
plied the Prah Klan, adding, with a faint smile, 

" The boat was already full, pressed to the water's edge, 
and would bear no more." 

The commissioner commented upon the good feeling 
of the United States' government towards them, and its 
general desire for justice and relations mutually beneficial. 



176 ' SIAM AISTD THE SIAMESE. 

The Prah Klan was well convinced of all this himself, 
but was not sure that the Siamese people understood it, 
and the responsibility of treaties, was from the fact that 
their own people might break them. 

The commissioner thought that judicious negotiations 
upon the part of each nation could readily arrange any 
threatening difficulty. 

" Such," said the Prah Klan, " is our confidence in the 
justice and good disposition of the American govern- 
ment, that we would like to have an article in the treaty 
providing, that in case of any trouble with any western 
power (England or France,) the United States would act 
as umpire." 

The commissioner thanked him for the compliment, 
and assured him no such provision would be necessary, 
as the United States felt it an obligation of friendship to 
comply with any such request. The Prah Klan looked a 
little disappointed, but did not again allude to the sub- 
ject. Upon our arrival here annoying reports had reached 
us, that the Siamese government, in consequence of our 
not representing a crowned head, had determined not to 
receive our embassy with the same honors as had been 
extended to Sir John Bowring, and as would be awarded 
the daily expected mission from the Emperor of France ; 
and that the king, instead of receiving the President's 
letter personally from the hands of the commissioner, 
would only receive it through a subordinate officer. 

I suspect that these views had more ground than mere 
rumor, and were put forth as feelers as to our temper in 
the matter. Mr. Harris had determined firmly to re- 
sist any such indignities, and any humiUating forms in a 
public audience. It was therefore very satisfactory to 
hear the Prah Klan voluntarily allude to this subject, and 
say that our formal rece]3tion was to be the same as that 
given the English, and the President's letter to be re- 



THE WHITE ELEPHA]S-T AT HOME. lYT 

ceived directly by the king from the hands of the com- 
missioner. He suggested that Mr. Harris draw up his 
views in advance of a public audience, so that they might 
be under consideration. 

Tea was served us out of a golden tea-pot in delicate 
porcelain cups, and cigars from a golden salver. From 
these nobles we went to the house of the king's brother, 
the Prince Kroma Luang Wongsa, the medical prince to 
whom I had addressed a note, on the part of the New York 
Academy of Medicine, respecting his diploma. He was 
now residing in the old palace which had been built after 
the removal of the seat of government from Yuthia to 
Bangkok. Prince Wongsa was a short and very fat man, 
with a broad, benevolent and somewhat jocular face, 
though at the time of our call the expression was rather 
sad. He wore a simple grass-cloth jacket, fastened with 
golden filagree buttons. He received us very cordially, 
held me by the hand, while he inquired if I was the per- 
son who had written him, and then gave me an embrace 
of professional fraternity, which edified me very much, as 
he was the only royal doctor I have ever seen. He ex- 
hibited the most friendly disposition towards our mis- 
sion, and made many kind suggestions, such as, being 
strangers, we might not know what nobles to call on, and 
therefore might unintentionally give some offense. He 
suggested that Mr. Harris had better address a note to 
the prime minister, asking him to designate who were to 
be waited on, and then, if any were neglected, the re- 
sponsibility would be the king's and not ours. 

Coffee was served in delicate French china. He asked 
if we would have any thing stronger, and when we de- 
clined, he said, " Do as you like ; I can not drink wine 
myself, but of late have felt forced to make the effort." 
During our conversation, a very fine boy of six years old, 
his youngest and favorite child, was playing around his 

8* 



178 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

knees with more freedom than is usual. The retainers 
were lying crouched on the floor. The boy was deco- 
rated with golden chains, bracelets and anklets ; his hair 
done up in a knot fastened with a golden arrow. Prince 
Wongsa ho^^ed we would visit him often and freely. If 
apprised of our coming, he would receive us in state ; 
but, for himself, he much preferred to see us freely and 
privately ; he had become wearied of ceremony and state. 
I remarked that " I should claim the freedom of a profes- 
sional brother." " It was a great gratification," he said, 
"to see me. The diploma sent him had been injured 
in framing, and he hoped I could have it replaced ; 
though since he had been in a political position, busi- 
ness had so crowded upon him that he did not practice, 
except in the royal family." He requested me to come 
down and have a talk with him respecting a brother then 
lying under paralysis ; and asked me to let him have, if 
possible, a few cups, and another surgical instrument. 

The prince asked Mr. Harris if he could let him have a 
copy of his credentials, and also of the address to be de- 
livered at the public audience. We took leave of the old 
gentleman, I trust, with feelings of mutual regard and ad- 
miration. 

These two visits had carried us well into the evening, 
but the Pra Kallahone, or prime minister, was expect- 
ing us. To reach his house we turned from the Menam 
into what in the dark appeared a labyrinthine canal, and 
pushed our way among what seemed a maze of boats. A 
blaze of torches of a fragrant gum resin lighted us into 
the large and richly ornamented marble-jDaved court. 
This palace of the prime minister is a large, new and 
truly elegant building. The audience room, of ascending 
floors, must have been near one hundred feet deep. It 
was handsomely finished with carving and gilding, the 
upper part of the walls being of open ornamental work, 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 179 

giving free ventilation to the adjoining apartments. A 
decorated partition separated this large hall from one of 
equal length back of it ; but the whole length of both 
apartments was exposed to view by an oval opening in 
the partition, looking, with its border of carved wood 
work, at the first glance, like an immense oval mirror. 
In front of this opening was pkced the divan, and im- 
mediately back of it a silken lounge, so as to catch any 
air which might be passing through these capacious 
apartments. Through all their length a row of glass 
shade lamps was suspended from the ceiUng, and lighted 
up. 

The Pra Kallahone, it will be remembered, is our first 
acquaintance, having visited us on ship-board. His small 
and light figure was enveloped in a yellow silk robe. He 
came forward gracefully, and taking Mr. Harris by the 
hand, led him to a chair, inviting us, at the same time, to 
be seated, placing himself in a large arm-chair. The prime 
minister has the reputation, on all hands, of being the ablest 
man in the kingdom ; and the impression of ability is given 
by his high and broad forehead, and melancholy, thought- 
ful countenance. The horrible black teeth, and filthy betel- 
nut chewing in universal use, diminished very much, at 
first, the agreeable impression made upon us by such men. 
The prime minister was the intimate friend of the present 
king before he reached the throne. They were supposed 
to represent "Young Siam," or a party of progress, and 
great expectations were held as to their joint influence in 
the advance of their country. Since reaching the mon- 
archy, the king has not shown himself such a progressive, 
and is supposed to entertain some jealousy of the prime 
minister's influence and abilities. 

Pra-nai-wai, his son, was present, but, like the other de- 
pendents, lying crouched on the floor, and would not rise 
off his knees as we spoke to him. 



180 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

The Pra KaUahone invited free conversation upon the 
treaty, although he was by no means well. 

Some allusion of a general character was made to the 
increased wealth and prosperity which would accrue to 
Siam from these treaties with western nations. 

The Pra Kallahone replied that his earnest desire was 
for the prosperity and happiness of the people, but with 
them there was nothing to secure permanency. They had 
no Congress, no Parliament. The accidental disposition 
and intelligence of the monarch controlled every thing, and 
kings, in a few generations, forgot that they sprung from 
the people, and lost all sympathy with them. It was es- 
sential to the prosperity of a nation that it should have 
fixed laws, and that the nobles should be restrained from 
oppressing the people, otherwise the latter were like 
chickens Avho, instead of being kept for theu* eggs, were 
kiUed off. 

The commissioner again remarked upon the many ad- 
vantages of our treaty alliance. 

The Pra Kallahone spoke in a low, but clear and mu- 
sical voice, and raising his hands gracefully to the shade 
lamp hanging overhead, he said, " Treaties are like that 
glass, beautiful and useful while whole, but requiring great 
and constant care to keep them from being broken." 

He then, as the Prah Klan had done, spoke of their 
confidence in our country, and repeated the request to 
insert an article in the treaty, making us the umpire in 
case of difiiculty with the other western powers. Mr. 
Harris replied as he had done to the Prah Klan, re- 
specting our general obligation to prevent difficulty. 

The Pra Kallahone said something more specific was 
needed : that if a misunderstanding were to arise between 
the governments of Siam, and England or France, the 
United States Consul might, while it was a small mat- 
ter, interfere so as to prevent its becoming a greater ; but 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 181 

if there was no obligation upon him to do so, he would 
naturally say, " It 's none of my business," and the trouble 
would increase. 

Mr. Harris said that no United States Consul could, 
consistently with his duty, refuse his friendly offices to 
prevent national difficulties. 

The prime minister said no more upon the subject, but 
asked Mr. Harris to draw up the treaty. 

A conversation then took place respecting the various 
natural products of the country, and Mr. Harris very ju- 
diciously directed the conversation so as to show how the 
product, the commerce in, and the revenue rfrom, these 
articles might be greatly increased, and the advantage 
of throwing the mines open to any who would work them 
and pay ten per cent, of the product into the treasury. 
The Pra Kallahone seemed to understand and assent to 
all this, as though it were already familiar to his mind, 
and suggested that an article be added to the treaty, 
opening the mines upon the payment of ten per cent. 

Mr. Harris suggested the advantage they would have 
from their young men traveling in Europe and America. 

The Pra Kallahone thought it would be of httle use 
unless they were men of ability, and these were very 
scarce. He requested my advice respecting an inflam- 
mation of his mouth, and as we had expressed our admi- 
ration of his palace, he invited us to walk through it. On 
each side of the large room back of the audience hall 
were passages leading to the sleeping apartments; all 
was new, clean, and neatly matted. At the lower end 
of the range of rooms was his own chamber, in which 
was a high-post gilded bedstead, with crimson silk cur- 
tains. Around this palace, within its in closures, were 
settled a village of retainers, a thousand or more in 
all. 

A hundred servants, at least, are in the household of 



182 ' THE VOYAGE OUT. 

each of these nobles, aiid seldom less than thirty attend 
them when gomg out. 

Immediately after breakfast, on the following morning, 
our quarters were visited by the fat, good-tempered, but 
shrewd and intelligent Prince Wongsa, and a crowd of 
his retainers in his train. Soon after taking his chair, he 
seemed to be so annoyed by the heat that he threw off 
his grass-cloth jacket, leaving his broad person entirely 
naked down to the loins. He had scarcely more than 
taken his seat, when the Grand Pra Kallahone came in 
without any other dress than the sarong. 

They had come to return our visit, and to say that the 
public reception, or audience, was fixed for the tenth of 
waning moon, being, according to our reckonmg, Wednes- 
day, the 30th of April. The names of the nobles, upon 
whom we were to call, were also announced, and the style 
of our calling suggested — the marine guard and band 
being to accompany us. Prince Wongsa expressed a wish 
to hear the band, and preferred to have it up in the room 
where we were. The crash of " Hail Columbia," " The 
Star Spangled Banner," and " Yankee Doodle," on base 
drum, drum and fife, with horns in proportion, was tre- 
mendous. The Pra-nai-wai came crawling in, but we 
rose, and, shaking him by the hand, insisted upon his 
taking a chair. He seemed very reluctant to do so in the 
presence of his father and of royalty, and looked, all the 
time he was sitting, as if conscious of an offense or impro- 
priety. 

Just before the entrance of his son, the Pra Kallahone 
had inquired which was the Engineer. Mr. Isherwood 
being pointed out to him, was at once asked if he under- 
stood machinery. 

" I do." 

"I would be glad to have you visit me, and look at 
mine." 



THE WHITE ELEPHANT AT HOME. 183 

" At any time when Ms excellency wiU send for me, I 
am at his service." 

Mr. Isherwood remarked how much Prince Wongsa 
resembled the Bourbons. 

The prince laughed, and said, " I believe they were 
driven from the throne." 

Mr. Isherwood. — " But the one you most resemble died 
on the throne." 

The prince arranged with me for visiting him to-night, 
for a consultation respecting his palsied brother, if Mr. 
Mattoon were sufficiently disengaged to accompany me. 

In the evening. Commodore Armstrong, Dr. Daniel, 
and myself went up to the prince's. We found there 
Mr. Parkes and several officers of the Auckland. The 
prince was in a more cheerful and jocular mood than I 
had yet seen him in. The lady of Mr. Parkes had been 
making a visit to the wives of the king, and the prince 
wanted to know what she thought of them, saying, that 
she had seen more than he ever had, as he never saw 
but two of the king's wives. 

Mr. Parkes, laughingly, remarked : " I do n't know 
what right you had to see even that many." 

" I will account for it satisfactorily," replied Prince 
Wongsa ; " one I saw professionally, and the other is a 
relative." 

Immediately after the departure of the English gentle- 
men, the prince invited us to walk up stairs to his private 
room. It was quite an armory. At each end, rifles and 
other fire-arms were suspended, one above another, against 
the wall. We had a long talk about the condition of his 
brother, and the only conclusion to which we came was 
that he must die in a day or two, which he did. He said 
he had exhausted his own medical resources, but such 
were the prejudices of the Siamese, he dare not call in 
another foreign physician. The Surgeon of the Auckland 



184 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

had seen him, but found great difficulty in procuring the 
obsei-vance of his prescriptions. 

We remained chatting with the prince until a late hour, 
and as we returned down the river, against a strong flood 
tide, the lights had disappeared from the fronts of the 
floating houses, and our way was in darkness ; but a 
beautiful appearance was seen on the river bank, the fire- 
flies, instead of being difi'used through air, were gathered 
around certain trees, and the whole assemblage, from 
lower branches to summit, would flash out simultaneously 
like glittering diamonds, taking the form of the tree. 
Opposite to our quarters was a tree which gave the fan- 
tastic form of a dancing harlequin, alternately flashing 
into brilliancy and sinking into darkness. 

On the next day after this, being April 25, the com- 
missioner, accompanied by the Commodore and the entire 
suite, with the band, proceeded to make the calls upon 
the nobles, as suggested the day before. 

We started up the river in four boats, and had got but 
little way when we met a procession of large state boats 
coming down. These boats had crimson and gilded cano- 
pies and hangings ; in one was a Siamese band, and all 
were propelled by men in crimson caps and jackets. The 
procession moved slowly to the sound of funeral music, 
and was on its way to cast into the river the fetid fluids 
of a deceased noble of whose burning we had the day 
before breathed the smoke. 

Upon the death of any one of rank, the body is closely 
wrapped and pressed with bandages so as to expel the 
fluids from it. It is then placed in a vessel in an apart- 
ment of the dwelling. From this vessel a tube passes 
through the roof, so as to carry off all exhalations ; an- 
other tube passes from the bottom to a jar for receiving 
the fluids. In this condition the body remains for many 
months, when it is burned with much ceremony upon a 



SIAMESE AND C H E I S T I A liT NOBLES. 185 

platform of damp clay, and the collected ashes are molded 
into a small idol, and gilded for future preservation and 
reverence. The collected fluids are carried in great state 
down the river and cast into it. 

The burning of a noble had taken place a day or two 
ago, and we would have been very glad to have witnessed 
it, but it was intimated that the king was to be present, 
and our presence, before our reception, would not be 
proper. On the following day, being in the neighborhood 
of the wat where the burning had taken place, I was en- 
veloped in a cloud of smoke still coming from the funeral 

pyi-e. 

XYI, 

SIAMESE AND OHKISTIAN NOBLES. 

OuE first visit was to the somdecht, an aged noble, the 
uncle of the minister of foreign afiairs and of the prime 
mmister. He is said to head the party of " Old Siam," 
especially opposed to reform and progress, and keeps him- 
self Yerj much aloof from strangers. He is the individual 
who defeated Mr. Balestiere's attempt to form a treaty. 
The somdecht is one of the highest titles of nobility, being 
a royal designation. It was given to this old gentleman 
and a brother now dead, as a retiring honor, to brmg on 
their sons to their active places and offices. We found 
him seated upon a carved and gilded divan, wearing only 
a sarong of changeable silk. It is somewhat remarkable 
that notwithstanding the scant attire used by the Siam- 
ese, they exhibit the best taste in the materials and colors 
of what they do wear. I was told by a lady that some 
one, attributing to them a barbarian taste for tawdry ma- 
terials of ghttering colors, had brought in a lot of such 
goods for sale, but the Siamese rejected them as vulgar. 



186 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

The table along which we were seated was furnished with 
sixteen golden and jeweled vessels, betel-nut-boxes, tea- 
pot, water vessels, etc. The old gentleman had an affable 
and pleasant expression, but at the same time one of great 
penetration and sagacity. I obseiwed a habit of watching 
intently any one speaking, with his black, bright eyes half 
closed, as if wishing to conceal the earnestness of his gaze. 
He at once expressed a wish to hear the music of our 
band, and when it had finished, directed his own to play. 
It contained about ten instruments, the principal of which 
were gongs, or cymbals, of different sizes, with an elevated 
centre, arranged on cords in a circle, in the middle of 
which was the player, who struck the cymbals with a 
cushioned hammer. Another frequent instrument is a 
series of metal or bamboo bars, laid on cords suspended 
over a hollow log, generally of the shape of a boat. These 
are sounded similarly to the former, and the ringing, 
musical, metallic sound of the bamboo bars is surprising. 
During the whole of our visit, a number of the females 
and children of the harem, the former wearing yellow silk 
scarfs crossing their breasts, and the latter golden chains 
and bracelets, were seated or crawling over the floor of a 
raised apartment back of us, and just seen over a balus- 
trade which separated them from us. Some of these fe- 
males were handsomer than any I have yet seen in Bang- 
kok. But when they opened their mouths, exposing the 
rough, black teeth, no semblance of beauty remained. 
The band, crouching on the floor before us, having finished 
its performance, the somdecht waved his hand toward the 
apartment behind us, and immediately a large band of 
female musicians, concealed by a light screen, struck up 
their tinkling notes. The music and the airs were very 
harmonious to my ear, the music resembling that of a 
piano combined with the tinkling of bells. A refined and 
elegant entertainment was served us. An ornamental 



SIAMESE AND CHRISTIAN NOBLES. 187 

golden stand, of the size of a small table, was placed on 
the table before each two officers, and upon each of these 
stands were four smaller ones of enameled gold, contam- 
ing confectioneiy, preserves and fresh fruits, the fruits, 
where they required peeling, being prepared and arranged 
in a showy and tasteful manner. Before each of us was a 
fresh cocoa-nut made into a temporary goblet, and filled 
with the sweetest cocoa-nut milk I ever tasted. The va- 
riety is peculiar to Siam. Tea was served in delicate 
gilded porcelain, and in similar cups the sweetened water 
and white pulp of the napa palm. 

Here, for the first time, I saw the celebrated " durian," 
a fruit of which I have heard ever since our arrival in the 
East, and in such superlative terms, both of its disgusting 
repulsiveness and subsequent fascinations, that I regarded 
all descriptions of it as exaggeration and affectation. The 
fruit is aboQt the size of a cocoa-nut with the outer husk. 
It is green, and covered with sharp short points. This 
outer prickly pod is divided into four or five lobes, in each 
of which are three or four smooth brown stones, envel- 
oped in a stringy custardy pulp — which is the edible por- 
tion, there being very little fi-uit for the great show. The 
odor of this fruit is very strong, and may be perceived in 
all parts of the house in which a durian may be. This 
odor has been described, and truly, as a mixture of sul- 
phureted hydrogen gas and garlic. All are driven from 
the fruit when they first see it, and when they venture to 
put it in their mouths the taste is worse than the smell, 
and yet all who continue eating it become extravagantly 
fond of it, preferring it to every other fruit. One gentle- 
man told me that the first ever brought into his presence 
was under a dish-cover, and, without knowing what it 
was, he fled the table in disgust. He lived six years in 
yearly contact with the durian before he was able to put 
it in his mouth. A lady, in another region of the East, 



188 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

told me that she was longer than this before she could 
taste it, and now both these persons preferred the diirian 
to all other fruits. This on the somdecht's table was not 
opened, as none of us ventured to taste it, and it was sent, 
very much to the disgust of some of our party, with other 
delicacies to our boat. That evening, the young Ger- 
man secretary to the Consul General came out of the 
room in which he had been writing, with an expression 
of disgust upon his countenance. I asked what was the 
matter. He said, "That thing is hanging outside the 
window, and I can not possibly sit in the room." A day or 
two after this, I made my first attempt to swallow some, 
and succeeded with great difficulty. The following morn- 
ing I put another morsel in my mouth, and was comjDelled 
immediately to eject it. At dinner of the same day I ate 
a little with some relish ; on the following day I wished 
for it, and, since then, have found no fruits a compensa- 
tion for the durian. 

From the somdecht's we went to the palace of the 
Chief of the Judiciary, the Lord Mayor of the city, and, 
what is better than all, the fiither of the king's favorite 
wife. Here refreshments were also offered us. On the 
table were some peculiarly-shaped black clay water bot- 
tles. Having noticed them, he said he had been on a 
war expedition to the province of Laos, and brought them 
from there. Upon taking leave, one of these bottles was 
presented to each officer. 

On our return, having called at the house of the Rev. 
Mr. Mattoon, Prince Wongsa, living opposite, sent for us, 
to have a social chat ; and the old gentleman, as we took 
leave of him, sent a bag of rock candy into our boat, as 
he had noticed, he said, upon the occasion of his visit to 
our quarters, that the sugar we had on the table was very 
bad. 

On the following morning — Saturday, the 26th of 



SIAMESE AND CHRISTIAN NOBLES. 189 

April — the son-in-law of the somdecht, in a handsome 
sarong, came to announce that the old somdecht was on 
his way to see us, and soon after the old gentleman made 
his appearance in a most stately manner, wearing a long 
yellow silk mantle, and sandals of crimson cloth — the first 
of the nobles I have seen with shoes of any kind. He 
was accompanied by his band of wind instruments, which 
in the aggregate produced a music resembhng that of the 
bagpipes. I asked which of his bands he preferred, and 
was answered : " They are of different characters, as is 
European music, and I like each in their way." This visit 
of the old somdecht was remarkable as the first he had 
ever been known to pay foreigners. We were sorry that 
we could not approach his style of entertainment, being 
able to give him nothing but tea and ship's bread. 

After the departure of the somdecht, two or three of us, 
accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Ashmore, of the Baptist mis- 
sion, undertook a walk through what maybe called the busi- 
ness street of Bangkok. Winding our way a few steps 
through the maze of thatched houses back of our quarters, 
we came upon a narrow pavement of very heavy bricks. 
This pavement was a kind of alley-way for miles through 
rows of closely-joined shops of Chinese goods, gambling- 
houses, etc. It led through the bazaar or market, in 
which vegetables, fruits, fish, crabs, shrimps, half-naked 
women, wholly-naked children, and myriads of yelping 
yellow curs were seen. The entire dwelling places of the 
families seemed to be the sheds in which their wares were 
exposed. A covering of bamboo slats in many places 
crossed this lane, from the roof of the houses on one side 
to those of another ; and if no other testimony existed of 
Siamese stature, this covering would give it, as most of 
our party had to stoop in passing under it — the average 
height of the Siamese being but five feet three inches. 
Besides this business alley, similar paved ways wind off 



190 , SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

for miles through the jungle, crossmg the canals on bridges 
of one or two planks, which may be removed when the 
king makes a passage, so that no inferior foot may, by any 
chance, tread over his sacred head. In folio-wing one of 
these rough pavements, which are generally not more 
than two or three bricks wide, it is so overgrown with 
grass, passes through such a wild thicket, and is so 
hedged with jungle, that one would think he was tread- 
ing the scant remains of some ruined and overgrown city 
of a past age ; but, scattered through the thickets on 
each side, may be seen, on their posts, the thatched huts 
of the Siamese. 

While following one of these walks, upon another occa- 
sion, we came upon a group of men shooting at a black 
squirrel on a neighboring tree. They used bows with two 
strings, separated in the middle by a small cup, or basket, 
of bamboo fibres, from which they shot clay balls, and 
with much accuracy ; for, although they did not hit the 
squirrel, the balls passed immediately beside him, and 
sometimes shook the small limb directly beneath him. 
My companion. Lieutenant Lewis, was so taken with this 
archery that he attempted it himself, amusing the Siamese 
very much by his failures ; but, after a few attempts and 
a little teaching, he surprised them by his success. 

Our first Sunday in Siam, although no Sabbath to the 
Siamese, was to us a gratifying day, as we had the oppor- 
tunity of assembling at the house of Dr. Bradley, of the 
Presbyterian, or rather Congregational mission, for the 
accustomed worship of our country. There are three 
missions, the Presbyterian and the Congregational, which 
are up the river, and the Baptist, which is two miles be- 
low. Each member of these missions has his prescribed 
duties — some as Chinese preachers and teachers, some as 
Siamese. One gentleman has charge of the press, and 
those skilled in medicine give theu' services and their 



SIAMESE AND CHRISTIAN NOBLES. 191 

remedies to all needing them and willing to take them. 
They constitute a community active for good, according 
to their own conscientious convictions. At first it would 
seem that the fact of three differing Protestant sects being 
represented by the missionaries at Bangkok would be ad- 
verse to their making any progress in their teaching, as 
the heathen might well say, " Why teach us, when you 
disagree among yourselves?" but, in the providence of 
God, these diversities become the evidence of truth and 
sincerity, because, although known to be of different 
sects, they are seen mingling in harmonious worship, and 
united in teaching the same great religious truths. But 
the great question is. What success have their teachings 
met ? No matter what the reply, it can in no way affect 
the convictions of religious communities and individuals, 
because they acknowledge the command, and have faith 
in the promises of God, leaving their fulfillment to His 
own time and ultimate designs. It is sufficient for such 
that God has said, 

" Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you ; and lo, I am with you 
always, even unto the end of the world." 

"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession." 

"The seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; 
and he shall reign for ever and ever." 

But there are many persons who profess to believe 
the Bible, and who would be very much surprised if told 
they had no faith in it, who yet persist in limiting and 
judging the Deity's vast arrangements by their own 



192 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

ever-erring and fallible judgment. Such persons judge 
of the value of a sect, indeed, of the success of Christ's 
kingdom, by the worldly eloquence and wisdom of those 
preaching in the sect and proclaiming the kingdom, for- 
getting that inspiration has declared, not by, but against, 
worldly wisdom and philosophy shall the power of the 
gospel be made known, that it may be seen to be of 
God, and not of man. 

" And my speech and my preaching was not with en- 
ticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of 
the Spirit, and of power : that your faith should not stand 
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 

" For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the 
wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the 
prudent. 

" Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ? where 
is the disputer of this world ? hath not God made foolish 
the wisdom of this world ? 

" For after that in the wisdom of God the world by 
wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness 
of preaching to save them that believe." 

But reasoning after the wisdom of this world, men 
professing faith in the Bible exclaim, "Missions to the 
heathen are useless; it is labor and money thrown 
away;" when they look upon so barren a field as Siam. 
" For a quarter of a century, missionaries have labored 
in Bangkok," and have yet to be assured of one Siamese 
convert. This certainly seems discouraging enough, but 
those who have labored longest and most assiduously 
still keep at their work in full faith in the promises of 
a truthful God. Why should they not? A quarter of 
a century is much in man's life ; centuries added to it, 
in the eternal designs of God, may not be the brief 
moment of the lightning-flash. Centuries after the first 
proclamation of Christianity, and in the countries nearest 



SIAMESE AND C H K I S T I A N NOBLES. 193 

to its origin, pagan rites and ceremonies were in use 
among the most enlightened o,nd powerful existing nations. 
And as I have before remarked, the national teachers of 
these peoples are but just born. 

But is it not presumptuous to say that nothing has 
been done — that God has neglected His own work ? In 
these twenty-five years may not the foundation of great 
and permanent future changes have been laid? In- 
deed, the apparent results of missionary teaching and 
residence are far more encouraging than might be in- 
ferred from the absence of personal conversion. 

At the house of Mr. Telford, of the Baptist mission, there 
are, every Sunday, several services by Mr. Telford and those 
of Mr. Ashmore, m Chinese, are attended by about thirty 
Chinese Christians, some of whom take part in the service. 
At the house of Mr. Smith there are similar Siamese ser- 
vices, and also at the house of the Rev. Mr. Mattoon, of 
the Presbyterian mission. It is true, these are attended 
chiefly by their pupils and various persons employed by 
the mission families ; still they are attended respectfully, 
and hear the gospel intelligibly. Again, the Bible has 
been freely translated into the Siamese language ; it is 
read eagerly, and I have seen Buddhist priests, in their 
yellow garments, several times applying for some parts of 
these translations. It is a very significant fact, too, that 
the more intelligent and better informed among the Sia- 
mese, in defending Buddhism, do so apologetically, saying 
its moral precepts are similar to those of the Christian 
rehgion, apparently valuing their faith according to its 
approach to Christianity. The king, who, previous to his 
reaching the throne, was a talapoin, or priest, and who 
now records himself as professor of the Bali language 
(the sacred language) and of Buddhistical hterature, has 
expunged the whole Buddhistical cosmogony, and retained 
only its moral injunctions. 

9 



194 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

Then, again, tlie kindness and devotion of the mission- 
aries to the interests of the natives without the expecta- 
tion of reward — their patience, sincerity, and truthfulness, 
have won their confidence and esteem, and, in some de- 
gi'ee, transferred those sentiments to the nation repre- 
sented by the missions, and prepared the way for the free 
national intercom'se now commencing. Nothing could 
more strongly iUustrate the influence personally exerted 
by the missionaries, and the confidence reposed in them, 
than the fact of their being freely consulted and advised 
with by the kings and nobles, even in affairs between the 
Siamese government and that of the missionaries them- 
selves. It was reported to me that Sir John Bowring 
had said that his own success in negotiating the British 
treaty had been so far beyond his expectatiorte, that he 
could but acknowledge the finger of God in it. True, 
whether Sir John piously said so or not ; and part of the 
chain of these successful events was the planting of Ameri- 
can missionaries in Siam, for the confidence reposed in 
them extends to kindred western people. It was very 
evident that much of the apprehension they felt in taking 
upon themselves the responsibilities of a treaty with us 
would be diminished if they could have the Rev. Mr. 
Mattoon as the first United States Coi^sul to set the treaty 
in motion. Finally, among the quiet means by which the 
missionaries, unperceived by themselves, have been ex- 
tending the influence of their religion, has been the moral 
force of that virtue vs^hich is said to be next to godfiness 
— cleanliness. The neatness, quiet system and order of 
their houses, excite the wonder and admiration of the 
Siamese, and stimulate some of them to a wholesome imi- 
tation, and many express their admiration of the cleanliness 
their confirmed habits of filth unfit them to imitate. 

Truthfulness, unfortunately, is not a Siamese virtue, but 
they can understand the value and the obligation of truth 



SIAMESE AN'D CHRISTIAN NOBLES. 195 

among those who do appreciate it. This was shown in a 
contest between two Siamese in the employ of one of the 
missionaries, and T record the anecdote as evidence of the 
nnperceived influence of missionary residence among such 
a people. The dispute was referred to their employer for 
settlement, and one of the party made a statement directly 
contrary to what he had previously asserted to his com- 
petitor. His competitor reminded him of the diiference 
between his present statement and that he had previously 
made, 

" Certainly," he replied, " but between ourselves, you 
know, we all lie as much as we can, but in talking to the 
Doctor, I must tell the truth." 

Admitting, however, that missionary influence in Siam 
has been slow in its results, there are peculiar reasons for 
such a delayed progress, without implying the uselessness 
of missions upon mere human reasoning. In the first 
place, the whole nation is of the priesthood. Every man 
is obliged to serve some portion of his life as a jDiiest, and, 
directly or indirectly, every family is allied with, and 
interested, in the priesthood. 

Again, the servility and humiliation of the masses is 
yielding and submissive beyond conception. I have never 
seen any approach to it, except among the serfs of Russia 
in relation to their Emperor and Patriarch. In Siam 
every man belongs to some superior, and that su]3erior is 
to the man, what man is to the dog — his God. He pros- 
trates himself upon the ground, and presses his face into 
the earth befor3 him, and is happy in doing so. To think 
in opposition to his master, is a treason and a heresy. 
Of course there can be no independence of thought, no 
spirit of investigation among such a people. Some of 
them have said to the missionaries, " We are interested 
in what you say, and would like to study the matter 
further, but we dare not — we are forbid." The power 



196 ' SIAM AND TH±] SIAMESE. 

of this despotic control is shown by the fact, that of the 
large and more independent Chinese population, many- 
have become sincere and practical professing Christians. 

A third, and a great obstacle, arises out of the nature 
of the Buddhist faith. It is a doctrine of works of merit, 
a belief that future happiness is purchased by human 
effort, by charities, by building temples, pagodas, etc., 
and, as in all such doctrines, the result is corrupting. It 
is a debtor and creditor account, which is left altogether 
in the hands of one of the parties, and to the bias of his 
own interests. A freedom to sin is felt to be in propor- 
tion to the abiUty of compensation — according to the 
sinning individual's judgment of what is a fair price. It 
recognizes none of that purity of heart, of which good 
deeds are but the blossoms and tlie fruits. Hence, while 
admitting all the virtues of the missionaries, and com- 
mending their selfdenial, patience, benevolence, etc., 
they say, of course, it is all on the debtor and credit 
principle, to lay up for themselves a store of purchase 
money for the happiness of futurity. 

I have written what I believe to be my honest convic- 
tions respecting the necessity and utility, upon human rea- 
soning, of missionary influence among heathen nations. 
Religious men will wonder that I have wasted any argu- 
ment upon so settled a question, but my life throws me 
among the honest, sincere, and well meanmg, who will 
insist upon seeing every thing by the dim twinkhng of 
human experience and ol)servation, instead of by the sun- 
light of revelation. Looking at the matter through the 
same imperfect organs, I have felt it an obligation of duty 
to point out its hopeful appearance. 

To many of us the missionaries of Siam are a gratefnl 
remembrance. Our duty had placed us geographically 
in a broad level physical swamp, but there lay around 
us a more mephitic moral marsh of humanity, and from 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 197 

this dreary level tlie homes of the missionaries rose 
Hke healthful and refreshing eminences. The association 
of intelligent and honest countrymen and women, the 
kindly-tendered hospitalities, the invoked blessing at the 
neat meal, the morning and evening family worship, car- 
ried us back to our country and to its best observances. 
We left them surrounded by dark clouds of heathenism, 
but gleaming like stars through their thick vapor, and 
offering the promise of a coming day of unveiled brilliancy 
— Christian nobles. 



XYII. 

DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 

The principal part of the city of Bangkok stands upon 
a projection of land, around which the river curves, and 
the two extremities of the curve or horse-shoe, three miles 
apart, are united by a broad canal, thus leaving the site 
of the city an island, or rather a collection of islets, for a 
number of minor canals, private and public highways, pass 
from the river to the canal, and intersect each other. The 
whole city is inclosed by a heavy turreted wall. 

■ Although it was quite a gloomy, rainy day, and the 
rainy season appeared to have fairly set in, the Rev. 
Messrs. Telford and Ashmore, of the Baptist mission, called 
with their boat to make a tour of observation. The small 
boat of these gentlemen was a much more convenient 
affair for penetrating the by-ways than one of the stately 
government boats furnished the commission; and then 
we were free from the" constant espionage of Pedro, 
Gabrielle, Macko, and the whole tribe of Siamese-Portu- 
guese spies who hung at our heels wherever we went in 
the official boats. 



198 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

Vultures — dirty, disgusting vultures — were continually- 
seen from our quarters, wending their way ever in one 
direction. It was toward the grounds of one of the larger 
wats in the centre of the city, where the daily dead were 
generally consumed. The gloomy rainy day was a con- 
genial one for a visit to such a scene of burning, corrupting 
mortahty. We took our way through the new canal — 
the one above mentioned, there being an older and a 
shorter one close to the city wall. In passing through 
these canals we see the practical good sense of paddling 
instead of using long sweeping oars ; for the latter there 
would be no room, but the paddles, kept close to the 
sides of the boats, enabled them to pass each other with 
facility. 

Soon after leaving the mouth of the river, we turned 
into an intersecting canal to visit the " king's wat." It 
was not so extensive as many others, but was very neat, 
the grounds decorated with the lotus and other flowers as 
usual. The main temple was curious from having, above 
the Buddhistical paintings which decorated the Avails, a 
correct representation of the solar system. Immediately 
back of the main temple was a smaller one, looking like a 
vault, but closed by a doorway about five feet by three, 
which was a perfect gem. It was of solid ebony inlaid 
with the most delicate mother-of-pearl, and so inlaid and 
covered that just enough of lines of the dark ebony were 
seen to relieve the pearly gleaming of its decorations. 
These were finely, beautifully and smoothly wrought, and 
represented, in the upper and lower part of each half of 
the door, the triple-headed elephant, and other royal in- 
signia, surrounded by leaves, scrolls and flowing plumes. 
The slightest change of the point of view threw the whole 
into opaline scintillations or irridescence. On our way 
to this place we passed acres covered with sheds, under 
which were the large war boats or canoes of the kingdom. 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 199 

We next pulled along another intersecting canal to the 
wat of the " burnings." The grounds and buildings of 
this place are said to occupy about thirty acres. The 
buildings make a village of themselves ; and as we passed 
along the avenues, they had a forlorn, dilapidated appear- 
ance. 

We slopped our way through mud and puddles of 
water to the grass and weed-grown ground where the 
bodies were consumed. Here, in several points, were 
masses of coals, ashes, and half-burned human bones. 
Near by were some elevated, smoke-blackened frames, 
looking like gibbets. These were for the arrangement 
of fire- works by those who were well enough off to burn 
their friends amid such celebrations and displays. On 
these gallows-looking frames and the ridges of some 
adjoining tumble-down buildings, sat confidently at home 
lines of dark-gray, dirty-draggled vultures, with drooping 
wings, their breasts and necks stripped of feathers, and 
their filthy crops hanging like balls of black flesh. What 
did they among these dry bones and ashes ? The weeds 
grew in rank patches, and looking hito one of these clumps 
of vegetation, I saw a human body with the flesh partly 
stripped from its bones. Near by was a broken wall with 
an opening in it. Curiosity led me to look through it, 
and though it has been my lot to witness many disgust- 
ing scenes, I hurried with revolting from what there met 
my eyes. In shallow puddles of water lay several naked 
bodies, as if just thrown there. Off of some, vultures were 
making a ravenous meal, and a gaunt dog was tearing the 
flesh from the cheek of another. This wat, I understood, 
has an allowance for burning the bodies of those whose 
friends can not afford this office for them, and to econo- 
mize the fuel, they leave the dogs and vultures to con- 
sume the flesh, and charge themselves T^th burning only 
the dry bones. I had heard that such was the economi- 



200 • SIAM AKD THE SIAMESE. 

cal mode of disposing of the bodies of the poorer people, 
but could not believe it until this offensive sight lay before 
my eyes. 

Continuing our way through this canal, we came, at its 
upper terminus, upon the river again, and visited a factory 
of some acres' extent, on which, under sheds, were piled 
up in fragments rising from circular brick inclosures, tons 
of pink-colored mortar, all of which was to be passed into 
the mouths of the Siamese, this being the place for pre- 
paring the lime used with their betel-nut. The beautiful 
pink hue is given by the mixture of turmeric. This pro- 
cess was going on in several brick-lined pits. 

Upon our return to our quarters, we found that a 
message had been received from the king postponing the 
public audience from Wednesday, April 30th, to Thurs- 
day, May 1st, npon the alleged ground that it would be 
in a more lucky month, according to the month of our 
calendar. This, however, was supposed to be a mere 
pretext to meet some convenience of the king. That 
evening the order and manner of our reception, which 
had been a subject of some uneasiness, were all satisfacto- 
rily arranged. The Siamese have the most exalted no- 
tions of monarchy, and as before stated, they had either 
conceived the notion, or it had been suggested to them, 
that as we represented no monarch, but only a republic, 
the reception ought not to be so distinguished as that of 
the British embassy, and the letter of the President, in- 
stead of being received by the king directly from the 
hands of the commissioner, must be handed to some sub- 
ordinate functionary. If they did entertain such notions, 
they readily and liberally changed them upon proper ex- 
planations, and it was determined that our reception was 
to be of the most honorable character which pomp and 
circumstance could give. The letter of the President 
was to be borne alone in a royal throne boat, with a 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 201 

proper escort, and received by the king directly from the 
hands of the commissioner. N"o degrading humiUations 
were to be exacted from us. Upon our entrance to the 
audience hall, we were all to bow ; then, walking up the 
hall to our places, we were to bow again before taking 
our seats on the carpet ; then velvet cushions were pro- 
vided for the commissioner and Commodore. Upon the 
conclusion of the commissioner's address, we were to rise, 
bow, and resume our seats. 

The rain, which had been almost constant since our 
arrival in Bangkok, would have interfered very much 
both with the comfort and brilliancy of our procession, 
but the morning of May 1st was beautifully bright and 
clear, and about twelve o'clock we started from our quar- 
ters in the large state barges which the king had sent for 
us. First went boats containing the band ; then followed 
the boat with the President's letter, which was deposited 
upon an elevated and canopied throne. In this boat were 
five standard-bearers with triangular silk banners. The 
letter itself was laid in a portfolio of embossed purple 
velvet ; heavy white silk cords attached the seal, which 
was shut in a silver box ornamented in relief with the 
arms of the United States. The cords passing through 
the seal and box were terminated by two heavy white 
sijk cord-tassels ; the whole was inclosed in a box in the 
form of a book bound in purple and gold ; over this was 
thrown a cover of yellow satin. The marine guard, in 
two boats under command of Lieutenant Tyler, escorted 
that containing the letter. ISText came a richly-canopied 
and curtained boat containing specimens of the presents 
from the United States to the king. This was followed 
by the barge containing the commissioner, his interpreter, 
Rev. Mr. Mattoon, and his secretary, Mr. Heuskin, with 
one of the ship's coxswains carrying the United States flag. 
The Commodore, his secretary and I, occupied the next 

9^ 



202 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

boat ; and then followed the remaining officers of the 
suite, Purser Bradford, Lieutenants Rutledge and Carter, 
Chief Engineer Isherwood, and Assistant Surgeon Daniels. 
The whole procession must have extended along the river 
for at least half a mile. The river fronts, the floating 
houses, were covered with a dense mass of Siamese, 
through which we were pulled for two miles, our rowers 
shouting and whooping like wild Indians, as theij* paddles 
rapidly struck the water ; this being one of the modes of 
indicating that they bore what they consider honorable 
burthens. 

Arrived at the j^alace landing we were received by one 
of the king's brothers, over whom was borne a large 
golden umbrella, and a salute of artillery was fired in 
honor of the President's letter, or, may be, of all of us. 
It was some distance through the paved streets of the 
town, it may be called, which lies within the palace 
walls, to the audience hall. Two chairs, carried on men's 
shoulders, were provided for the Commodore and com- 
missioner, and for the remainder of us simply red cush- 
ions upon a seat without back or sides, and supported on 
arms resting on the men's shoulders. The bearers stooped 
that we might take our seats, and as they rose suddenly 
with us, during the irregular steps of their progress our 
seats were very uncertain. We must have sat there very 
awkwardly, for the crowds of Siamese through which we 
passed rent the air with shouts of laughter. Besides our 
own marine guard and the band, a large company of Siam- 
ese, carrying silken banners, accompanied the palanquin, 
upon which the letter was borne, and also a company of men 
in transparent muslin robes. These latter were the sher- 
iffs and constables of the kingdom. Our way was through 
files of the varied military companies — some in Euro- 
pean costume, with muskets, some in red calico gowns 
and caps, archers, single-headed spear companies, trident- 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 203 

shaped spear companies, some with pikes, some with single 
swords, and other companies in which each man carried two 
swords; some carried oval shields and others long narrow 
shields, protectmg only the arms. Passing this military 
line we came upon one, of about a dozen elephants, in hol- 
iday attire and decoration. Each elephant was mounted 
by three men in fancy costume, and on the backs of sev- 
eral of them were small pieces of artillery. 

We were dismounted and detained some little time at 
a building stiU some little distance from the audience hall. 
Presently a messenger came to usher us into the royal 
presence— the guard and band to remain outside of the 
inmost gate, through which no arms were allowed to pass. 
As we turned a corner we came suddenly upon an ap- 
palling sight— files of a hundred men on each side of 
our road, and each man had under his left arm an oblong 
drum ; in his right hand was a bone, looking like a deer's 
antler. The moment we made our appearance, these two 
hundred drums received simultaneously a single blow— 
and the crash was awful ; and then, after a short pause, 
another. Having passed through the drums, a band of 
wind instruments received us, and then we were at the 
door of the audience hall. All of the Siamese officials in 
attendance upon us fell prostrate to the ground. The 
lofty doors were thrown open, and a spectacle at once 
magnificent and humihating was before us. Along each 
side of the long hall, in two rows, lay the nobles of the 
kingdom, resting upon their elbows and knees upon red 
velvet cushions. They were clothed in the richest golden 
tissues, some having golden muslins over under garments 
of rich silk, and some fine muslins over tunics of uniform 
gold. My old friend. Prince Wongsa, and the prime 
mmister were among those most richly and tastefully 
costumed. The former wore a robe of purple silk and 
gold, the latter a fine white muslin, or lace, over a golden 



204 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

tunic. Before each noble was arranged his paraphernalia 
of golden vessels, some of them as large as a soup-tureen. 
There must have been from ten to twenty thousand dol- 
lars before each noble. Behind the nobles, along each side 
of the hall, were ranges of the pyramid-shaped standards of 
lessening silken circles, called the royal umbrellas. Glanc- 
ing our eyes along these rows of glittering prostrate nobles 
to the upper part of the hall we see depending from its lofty 
roof two curtains of gold clotb. These are drawn back, 
and we see an elevated throne of gold cloth, covered 
with a graceful pointed canopy. The curtains of the front 
of this throne are drawn back, and in the open space is 
seated the king, also clad in golden fabrics, and upon his 
head a crown of purple velvet, glittering with jewels, and 
having a single bird-of-paradise plume falling over to one 
side. He is a small, thin, pleasant and intelligent-faced 
man, of a hue scarcely differing from that of his dress and 
surroundings. 

We made the arranged bows and took our seats. Mr. 
Harris placed the President's letter in the king's hands 
and delivered the following address : 

"May it please your Majesty — 

" I have the honor to present to your Majesty a let- 
ter from the President of the United States, containing a 
most friendly salutation to your Majesty and also accred- 
iting me as his representative at your court. 

" I am directed to express on the President's behalf the 
great respect and esteem that he feels for you, and his 
warm wishes for the health and welfare of your Majesty, 
and for the prosperity of your dominions. 

" The fame of your Majesty's great acquirements in 
many difficult languages and in the higher branches of 
science has crossed the great oceans that separate Siam 
from the United States, and has caused high admiration 
hi the breast of the President. 



DIPLOMACY INAUGUKATEI). 205 

" The United States possesses a fertile soil and is ricli 
in all the products of the temperate zone. Its people are 
devoted to agriculture, manufactures and commerce. The 
sails of its ships whiten every sea. Its flag is seen in 
every port. The gold mines of the country are among 
the richest in the world. 

" Siam produces many things that can not be grown 
in the ITnited States, and the Americans will gladly ex- 
change their products, their gold and their silver, for the 
surplus produce of Siam. A commerce so conducted will 
he beneficial to both nations, and will increase the friend- 
ship happily existing between them. I esteem it a high 
honor that I have been selected by the President to rep- 
resent my country at the court of the wisest and most 
enlightened monarch of the East, and if I shall succeed 
in my sincere wish to strengthen the ties of amity that 
unite Siam to the United States, I shall consider it the 
happiest event of my life." 

At the conclusion of this address we all rose, made the 
stipulated bows, and resumed our seats. The king then 
commenced a conversation with the commissioner. Al- 
though he spoke and read English, it was carried on 
through Mr. Mattoon, who sat near Mr. Harris, and a 
Siamese official interpreter, who lay next Mr. Mattoon 
with his head bowed to the floor, and his hands pressed 
together before his face. At each communication he 
raised his head slightly, and prefaced his message by some 
of the magniloquent titles of the king. During the first 
part of the conversation, the king was loosening the clasps 
of the President's letter, which he seemed impatient 
to get at. He asked how long Mr. Pierce had been 
President, and how many Presidents there had been. 
Having by this time got out the letter, he noticed the 
seal, and asked if we had a new seal with each Presi- 



206 - SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

dent. He then opened the letter, and read it aloud in 
EngUsh, with a French accent, and then said to the com- 
missioner, 

" Did you understand me ?" 
. " Perfectly." 

" I will now read it in Siamese," and he did so to his 
nobles. 

He then inquired how many treaties we had with the 
East, and with what nations. He remarked, that in any 
treaty we might make with Siam we could expect no 
exclusive privileges. The commissioner replied that we 
desired none. 

The king then went on with quite a long history of the 
various embassies which had visited Siam, and held up a 
gold-scabbard ed sword which had been presented through 
Mr. Roberts to the then king, and had fallen to him. He 
seemed to prize it highly. 

He then inquired what were our usages in receiving 
presents, and was told by Mr. Harris that the Constitu- 
tion of our country prohibited our receiving any. He 
inquired what was done with such presents as had been 
made to officers of our government, and was told they 
were deposited in the State Department. I suppose he 
made the inquiiies, because he had heard that such were 
our arrangements. 

He then called up the commissioner and the Com- 
modore, and handed them cards for each one present. 
They were neatly engraved on silver-edged cards, and 
inclosed in glazed silver-bordered envelopes. 

Somdet Phra 

Paramendr Maha Mongkut, 

The Commodore and commissioner then backed to 
their seats ; the golden curtains were drawn across the 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 207 

throne ; the nobles all rose on their knees, and with their 
face toward the throne, and hands pressed together be- 
fore their faces, made three simultaneous salaams, and 
the audience was closed. During the audience I felt 
some one Hghtly pushing my elbow ; and, looking around, 
found it was a young man, the nephew and private sec- 
retaiy of the king, on his hands and knees, pushing be- 
fore him a silver cup of cigars and box of lucifer matches, 
and also a small stand of wine in cut rose-thated decanters, 
and with glasses to correspond. 

Notwithstanding the sacredness of "the presence," 
smoking was not against etiquette, and was therefore 
freely indulged by the commissioner and others of us 
smokers during the hour and a half that the audience 
continued. 

Returning to the first reception-room, we found an 
elegant and profuse dinner prepared for us. The French 
have a reputation for artificial cookery ; but the Siamese 
can teach them savory and elegant complications, some- 
what obnoxious, it is true, to some unsophisticated tastes, 
by the free sprinkling of garlic. We had but just taken 
our seats at the dinner-table, when our old and substantial 
friend. Prince Wongsa, joined us, stripped, undoubtedly 
to his great dehght, of all his court trappings, and wear, 
ing nothmg but his silken sarong, entirely exposing his 
broad chest. He took a seat in an open window, and 
saw that all the arrangements for our table were prop- 
erly conducted. The Elng of Siam was drunk with three 
cheers, all pro forma^ as we were not a cheering or drink- 
ing set. Prince Wongsa remarked that we did not give 
our hurrahs with the same energy as those who drank 
more brandy. 

On the following day we had a public audience with 
the second king, very similar to that with the first. He 
also made many inquiries respecting our Presidents, and 



208 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

seemed to have a particular affection for General Jackson, 
respecting whom he made minute inquiries. 
. Some of the officers present he requested to stand up 
as their names and stations were individually mentioned. 

After the audience was closed, the somdecht said he 
wished to see me, at my convenience, at his house. Din- 
ner was served as yesterday, and Prince Wongsa again 
made his appearance in the same Eden-like costume, but 
said that he must apologize for leaving us, as the king was 
about making a progress on the water, and it was his duty 
to attend him. During dinner a message was received 
from the second king, that he wished to see the Commo- 
dore privately ; and just as the remainder of us had em- 
barked on our return, a hurried message came for Lieu- 
tenant Carter. The kmg takes great interest in arms, 
and desired some information from Mr. Carter upon the 
subject. 

Having separated from the rest of our party to make 
a professional visit, on my way down the river I met the 
king's procession ; he was attended by a large number of 
barges, in a line, paddling with great rapidity, and with 
the usual loud shouts. In the king's own boat were several 
men with long staffs, from which were streamers of white 
horse-tails ; these they threw into the air and brought 
down, striking violently in the bottom of the boat, in 
time with each shout of the crew. All other boats on the 
river stopped and their crews crouched down to the seats. 

The following morning the second king sent for several 
officers and myself, who had not previously done so, to 
visit him privately. We were first conducted to a large 
guard-room or armory. Bright muskets were neatly ar- 
ranged around the walls ; over them were suspended car- 
touch boxes and knapsacks. Several men were busy bur- 
nishing up arms. Every thing was in neatness and order. 

After some detention at the guard-room, a messenger 



DIPLOMACY INAUGUEATED. 209 

came to conduct us to the king. We passed through a 
gateway, at which were stationed guards, into a large 
and handsome garden of fruit and ornamental trees. At 
specified distances through this garden were small boards, 
on which were painted distances for target-shooting. 
Guards, two and two, were walking on a semicircular 
pavement in front of the portico of the palace. We as- 
cended a flight of marble steps to this portico, which was 
on a level with the second story, and ail paved with mar- 
ble. From this we entered a large room, and passed from 
one end of it into a royal snuggery. Here the king re- 
ceived us in an unostentatious and gentlemanly manner. 
He wore a rich black satin jacket over an embroidered 
skirt, and a changeable peach-blossom sarong, with em- 
broidered slippers. The room had a long table in the 
centre covered with a maroon silk cloth, and over it hung 
a punka. On each side of the room were hair-seat sofas, 
and over that on one side, was a colored lithograph of 
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and five of their children 
— a present to the king. Over the opposite sofa was 
hung a map of the United States ; and at each side of 
it an oil portrait of Presidents Washington and Pierce — 
recently presented. A very large alabaster vase, and sev- 
eral small paintings, were among the decorations of the 
apartment ; and in the corners were correct statuettes of 
JSTapoleon, WeUington, Prince Albert and Yictoiia, mod- 
eled by a Siamese artist, after engravings. One end of 
this apartment opened upon a smaller one, in which, neat- 
ly arranged, were his electrical and philosophical appa- 
ratus ; and one side of it opened into a secluded study, in 
which were many elegant and convenient arrangements : 
chemical apparatus and tests ; a silver mounted desk ; 
handsome brass field bed, and brass, morocco-covered 
rocking-chair. In this study, and in the main apartment, 
were book-cases, filled with standard authors, American 



210 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

and English ; in general literature, history, science, the- 
ology and military aftairs. 

He inquired particularly after my friend Dr. Ruschen- 
berger, of the United States Navy, of whom he had a dis- 
tinct recollection, and called my attention to a volume of 
the Doctor's works in his library. Upon saying I would 
like to look at it, he took it from the library, and jDulling 
around the rocking-chair, said, "Take and read it, and make 
yourself at home, and look at it as long as you i^lease," 
which of course was a very condescending act of royalty, 
but I trust had more value as the act of a gentleman. 
He drew a seal ring from my finger and inquired about 
the device, and then showed me a fine collection of his 
own, as also a gold pencil-case and sword scabbards made 
by his artists in the palace. Tea, cofiee, fruit and cigars 
were placed upon the satin-covered table, and the king 
poured out for ns. His son, George Washington, a young 
man of eighteen years, was moving about the apartments, 
but whenever he came in the presence of his father stooped 
to the floor. It was, however, a pleasant fact that neither 
father nor son used the disgusting betel, and therefore 
had white instead of ebony teeth. 

Whilst dining at Dr. Bradley's after my return from 
the second king's, I received a message from the somdetch 
to visit him. The Rev. Mr. Smith of the Baptist mission 
accompanied me as interpreter. When the somdetch saw 
Mr. Smith with me he seemed startled, and stepping up 
to Mr. S., asked him, as this gentleman afterward told 
me, whether he might regard him as friendly in any con- 
versation he might have. 

It was in this very room, and with the somdetch him- 
self, that an angry conversation occurred with Mr. Bales- 
tiere, defeating his attempt to make a treaty. Mr. Smith 
was present at the time, and had not, nntil now, been in 
the house since. 



DIPLOMACY IN AU GUE ATED. 211 

After a short professional conversation, the somdetch 
made many inquiries respecting our mode of rationing 
our ships, how the supplies were kept up, the value of 
each man's ration, and who had the privilege of supplying 
themselves. He also inquired where the coffee used in the 
United States was grown, and whether we used most tea 
or coffee. He inquired the amount of salary paid to the 
President of the United States, and expressed the greatest 
surprise that it should be so little, repeating several times 
that it was impossible it could be so little, as no man, he 
said, could maintain such a position upon so trivial an 
amount. I was not at all annoyed at the evident con- 
tempt he felt for our chief magistrate's salary. I rather 
enjoyed it, as I thought it gave me an opportunity of 
reading him a lesson upon republican dignities, and I 
helped the contempt to settle well upon his mind. 

" He can not make any thing by his oflSce," said the 
somdetch. 

" Upon the contrary," I replied, " he may leave it 
poorer than he entered it." 

The old gentleman looked puzzled. " Now, Mr. Smith," 
I said, " tell him the ablest men in our country seek the 
presidential chair, not for its salary, but because we think 
it the highest honor on earth to be the chosen ruler of a 
nation of thirty millions of people." 

He immediately asked, " How old is the United States ?" 

" Eighty years. And eighty years ago it had only the 
present population of Siam." 

" How did it grow to be so large, and where did such 
vast numbers of people come from ?" 

" By liberality and toleration, by inviting all nations and 
aU religions into the country, and allowing any one who 
would to improve their condition and develop its resources 
— by avoiding taxation and monopolies." 

He handed me a book, and asked me to write in it the 



212 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

names of the nations from which om* population is derived. 
I wi'ote in it all the nations of Em'ope and the East, in- 
cluding the Siamese, and as I handed it I called his atten- 
tion to his own nation, saying I had written it because I 
knew there were two of them, the Siamese twins, farming 
in one of our southern States. He seemed much amused 
by this, and said he wanted to know something about 
those boys. 

In the course of a little farther conversation he asked 
which had the better disposition and temper, the Comme- 
dore or the commissioner. I replied that I had known 
the Commodore many years and the commissioner but a 
few months, and therefore did not think it just to draw 
a comparison between them. The old gentleman smiled, 
and, turning to Mr. Smith, remarked, " A very appro- 
priate answer." 

He asked me if I liked curries, and what time I break- 
fasted. "Yes, and eight o'clock." He said it was an 
early hour, but he would send me two such as they es- 
teemed their best. 

I passed a very pleasant evening with this fine-looking, 
intelligent, shrewd old gentleman ; and although he was 
unadorned by any garments but the sarong around his 
loins, I had the evidence that evening, from some thmgs 
which occurred in our conversation, that he was a person 
of much natural delicacy and refinement. He has, from 
honest convictions, been opposed to innovation and inter- 
course with foreigners. Until now he has kept aloof from 
them, but finding that circumstances are against his old 
fogyism, he yields gracefully. During the twenty-seven 
years that the missionaries have been here he had never 
been in one of their houses, but during our visit he called 
at Mr. Mattoon's, and took tea at Dr. Bradley's. 

When I took leave of him he ordered a small bag of 
coifee to be put in my boat, and the next morning, by 



DIPLOMACY INAUGUBATED. 213 

breakfast-time, a train of servants came bearing the two 
tm-eens of promised curries. 

XJnderstanding that there were services in Chinese to 
a small congregation at the Baptist mission, I walked 
around there. 

The congregation consisted of about thirty men. The 
services commenced with singing a hymn, after which a 
Chinaman of the congregation made a prayer, and an- 
other read a chapter in the Bible from the desk. Mr. 
Ashmore then preached a short sermon, which was listened 
to with much apparent attention. Mr. Ashmore has the 
reputation of being a good Chinese scholar, and seemed 
to use the language as if he were thoroughly imbued with 
its nature. 

The room in which the service was held was upon the 
thoroughfare, and a man was stationed at the door to in- 
vite in all passers-by. Some came in laughing, some with 
an expression of earnest curiosity. One of these chance 
auditors was on his way to market with a basket of salad 
and other vegetables, which he deposited at the door. 
He remained, as did several, an attentive listener until the 
close of the service. Most of them, upon entering, squat- 
ted immediately upon their haunches until shown to seats. 

At the close of the service, in the interval between the 
first and second service, tea was handed the congregation. 

On account of the health of Mrs. Ashmore, she and her 
husband are about leaving for China, and the present was 
the last service they would attend previous to their de- 
parture. Much feeling was exhibited by the regular con- 
gregation, the members of which came up, salaamed, and 
shook them by the hands, expressing their kindly feehngs 
and regrets for their departure. 

At the same time a Siamese service was being held at 
the neighboring house of Mr. Smith, and as I saw the 
neatly-attired servants of the missionaries going into the 



214 • SI Alt AND THE SIAMESE. 

worship, I thought that much had been gained in the 
poetry of decent dress by the missionary influence, if 
nothing more. We nations who are famiUarized to the 
artistic arrangements of silk, wool, flax and cotton, are 
all like the old lady, who, when Christie Johnstone en- 
tered, " a beautiful young lady in a black silk gown, a 
plain but duck-like plaid shawl," exclaimed, " Oh, my 
child, if I had seen you in that dress I should never have 
said a word against you." 

An invitation was received from the second king for 
the officers to visit him privately. Commodore Arm- 
strong, in assertion of our national character, replied to 
the messenger that " we must be excused. It was a sa- 
cred day with Christians, on which we neither visited nor 
did work, but attended the worship of God." This course, 
irrespective of the acknowledgment of any religious obli- 
gation, was a wise and judicious one. It asserted our na- 
tional character, and the independence of principle. Be- 
sides, our country had hitherto been represented only by 
two classes of persons — the missionaries, who taught the 
sanctity of the Sabbath, and too many adventuring, reck- 
less Americans, who belied the teachings of the mission- 
aries and of all moral precepts. The king's messenger 
spoke English, and replied that " he knew enough of Sun- 
day to know that we would not go when he was sent for 
us ; but he dare not say ' No' to the king, and he hoped 
we would not be angry — the king had great reverence for 
Americans." 

Into the scale of the long-laboring missionaries, was 
thrown the weight of our position as official representa- 
tives of our government, and the encouragement it might 
convey. 

The mingling of Christian prayers and hymns with the 
tinkUng of air-rung bells on heathen pagodas, is a strange 
and starthng combination ; but it was presented to most 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 215 

of US on this Sabbath afternoon, who attended church 
service at the house of Rev. Mr. Mattoon. His house 
is situated directly adjoining, almost on the ground of, a 
large and elegant wat, the pagodas or pra-di-chis of which 
tower above the roof and cast their shadows upon it. 
It is the great pagoda or pra-di-chi, already alluded to 
as the loftiest in the city, and as being, it is said, two hun- 
dred and fifty feet high. From base to summit it is of 
most elaborate finish. The shape is an octagon, with 
sides of about eighty feet in length, and built in retir- 
ing and projecting angles, like steps laid on their sides. 
Through four of these sides, precipitous steps ascend to 
galleries, one about twenty feet above the other. The 
outer inclosure, and the inner wall of these galleries, are 
of the same niched or receding and projecting angles as 
the foundation. The outer inclosure is of heavy, open- 
work porcelain plates, and it is surmounted at each outer 
end, and inner point, by a red freestone vase. The reced- 
ing niches of the inner wall of these galleries are occupied 
by grotesque human figures. The steeple, as it springs 
above each of these galleries, appears to be supported on 
rows of figures of Buddha resting on one knee and the 
foot of the other leg, the leg being at right angles at the 
knee. The arms are thrown above the head, supporting 
the superincumbent weight. Above every gallery is a 
range of these supporting figures, and then the steeple, 
diminishing in size, rises for some distance, when it takes 
the form of four niches like ornamented windows, and in 
these niches stand nearly life-size figures of triple-headed 
white elephants with fantastic riders. Over each of these 
niches rises a graceful pagoda tower, and from the midst 
of these four towers rises the diminishing terminus of the 
steeple ending in an oval summit, surmounted by a light 
ornamental decoration of gilded metal. At a proper dis- 
tance ofi" from the corners of the base of this grand pa- 



210 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

goda stand four smaller ones like it — except that the 
niches, instead of elephants, have horses. On the sides 
between these smaller towers are handsome ornamental 
temples. The whole of these structures are brilliant with 
green and white, and red and gold, representing symme- 
trical figures, flowers, leaves, etc. 

If I say that all this dazzling bright work was made 
of porcelain tiles, molded for the purpose, the dignity of 
the material would seem to be consistent with the ele- 
gance of its effect. And it is made of porcelain flower- 
work, but it is the fragments of broken china plates, cups, 
and saucers ; and now, I dare say, w^ord-enslaved reader, 
you lose all admiration of the ingenuity and the effect of 
the application, in your contempt for the humble nature 
of the material. Yet these structures are beautiful in 
form and coloring. In architecture they are studies. 
From every niche and point hangs a gilded bell, and from 
the clapper of each a heart-shaped plate of thin gilded 
metal. As I have sate, of an evening, looking at the lofty 
steeples glowing in the setting sun, and the breeze came 
first rustling through the trees, and then gently tinkling 
these gilded bells, it was the reaHzation of fairy scenes, 
with fairy music in the air. 

The most important and elegant wat in the (uty is 
the wat Chi, the P'on-a-ram, or, as it is generally called, 
wat Po, on the left bank of the river, near the palace. 
The lofty and bright-colored roofs of its temples look 
like the buildings of a separate city. Its grounds inclose 
beautiful salas, with broad stone seats, surrounded by 
shrubbery. There are miniature mountains and artifi- 
cial lakes, with pet alligators in their waters. Forests of 
graceful pra-di-chis shoot up their tapering spires ; con- 
spicuous among these are three in a line, said to be one for 
each king of the present dynasty. 

Colossal human figures, hewn out of granite, and 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 217 

dragons, of the same material, guard the entrances. The 
broad green leaves of the sacred lotus, growing in vases, 
are seen in every direction. 

Within these grounds are ten corridors for medical 
prescriptions. In niches of the wall are figures represent- 
ing various affections, and against the columns in front, 
written on stone, are directions for cure. 

One of the temples of this wat has a more elegant and 
substantial finish than any I have seen elsewhere. A 
range of substantial buildings, with four entrances, inclose 
a large square. These buildings, with bright-tiled roofs and 
fronts of open-work green porcelain plates, have around 
their whole extent ranges of gilded idols, of life size, all 
precisely alike, and sitting with their limbs folded under 
them. From each corner of this quadrangle there are 
projected recesses, also filled with the same idols. I 
estimated about four hundred in all. These buildings in- 
close a large square, in each corner of which is a pra-di- 
chi, and in the centre a large temple. The pra-di-chis are 
not needle-like, as are those of the wats, and, instead of 
being covered with fragmentary porcelain, they are all 
faced with blue and white marble. A wall four feet high, 
of the same material, laid up in panels, surrounds the 
temple. "Within this wall, pillars, four feet square and 
fifty high, support the roof. 

The windows, surmounted with ornamental cornices, 
are closed by heavy carved and gilded shutters. The 
doors are ebony, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The floor 
of this building is paved with marble, and the inside pil- 
lars, the walls, and ceiling, are entirely covered with 
crimson paint, and gilding. At the upper end, as in all 
these temples, is one gigantic and several smaller gilded 
idols. 

But the greatest curiosity of this wat Po — a wonder 
of the world — is " the reclining god." 

10 



218 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

When I entered the building in which this is contained, 
I saw a wall of gold rising before me. I looked up — and 
still it rose to near the roof of the building for more than 
forty feet, and then took shape. I was at the back of 
the idol as it lay. The head profusely covered with stiff 
golden ringlets, and the shoulders of the idol, the head 
resting on the hand and bended elbows, were before my 
eyes. I was behind the figure. As I looked along down 
its glittering length, it stretched away a human figure 
one hundred and fifty feet long, resting upon a bed of 
masonry three or four feet high. This figure is built of 
bricks, smoothly covered with plaster and thickly gilt. 
The soles of the feet, which are perfectly smooth and 
flat, are inlaid with mother-of-]Dearl. 

Of the various wats there are over one hundred in 
Bangkok, and connected with them are armies of priests. 
Some wats alone have as many as five hundred, and there 
are said to be thirty thousand altogether. Many of them 
are mere lads or novitiates. They all wear turmeric-dyed 
garments, and are supported by contributions — not char- 
ity — as the favor is supposed to be done by the recip- 
ients. In the early morning they are to be seen in their 
boats upon the river, and passing through the town col- 
lecting their dues. The remainder of their time, with 
the exception of a few routine services, is passed in idle- 
ness. The sacred language of the Buddhistical literature 
and services — the Bali or Pali — is entirely different from 
the secular language ; and if the priests did not make 
themselves acquainted with it, they would be called upon 
to exercise some study and labor. 

There is not the least reverence in their manner while 
in the temple or in the performance of their services. 
Childish levity and inattention mark their deportment. 
Frequently upon entering their temples we found a group 
of them sitting upon the floor in front of their god, one 



DIPLOMACY INAUGURATED. 219 

reading from their sacred books, the others chatting and 
smoking, and even lighting their cigars from the lamp 
burning on the altar. Upon our entrance sometimes the 
reading would stop, and all comment upon us and laugh 
at us; at others the reader would go on while the re- 
mainder amused themselves with us. 

These talapoins, or priests, are supposed to be regulated 
by a code of one hundred and forty odd precepts. The 
following specimen will show the nature of them, and 
lead to much doubt as whether any of them are regarded : 

"After twelve o'clock, M., eat nothing. Attend no 
shows. Listen to no music. Use no perfumes. "Wear no 
jewels. Contract no debts. Look at nothing as you pass 
along. Touch no money. Do not dig the earth. Have 
nothing to do with state affairs. Do not laugh loud nor 
make a noise with the feet. Never revile, backbite or 
threaten. Do not cough so as to attract attention, nor 
extend the feet as you sit." 

The high or ruling priest is appointed by the king, and 
every man is obliged to serve as a talapoin at least three 
months. He quits at any time after this that he pleases ; 
but if he enters a second time, it must be for life. 

Crowds of people assembled to take part in the show 
and spectacle and ceremonies of launching a ship, and 
then they scatter, few thinking of the storms and rocks, 
and labor which are before her future ; or they gather 
around a balloon, and rend the air with cheering shouts as 
she springs into the upper air, and as the first cloud shuts 
her in, each goes his way, leaving her to expand to burst- 
ing in the regions of space, or to come safely and suc- 
cessfully to earth again as the skill or luck of the lone 
agronaut may determine. 

Thus had we, amid music, and glitter, and pomp, and 
spectacle, performed the dramatic part of our treaty- 
seeking enterprise, and on Monday, the 5th of May, 



220 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

there was a scattering of our party. The Commodore 
and most of the officers returned to the ship that the 
Captain and other officers might visit Bangkok, and now, 
the show being over, the practical work of negotiation 
was to commence. 

On the following day, " The Royal Seat of Siamese 
Naval Force" returned, bringing Captain Bell, Lieuten- 
ants Williamson and Bryant, Sailing Master Bowen, As- 
sistant Surgeon Semple, and Captain's Clerk, Ashe. I now 
gladly accepted an invitation to move up to the Rev, 
Mr. Mattoon's, where Lieutenant Lewis, an invalid, was 
already staying. Instead now of being on a mud-bank, 
with a ditch on one side and a canal on the other, I was sur- 
rounded by shrubbery, flowers and verdure, and from the 
porch at the back of my room, I looked upon the grounds, 
temjDles and pagodas of the wat before mentioned ; and 
from that in front, I had before me one of the historic build- 
ings of Siam, the old palace built by the monarch who aban- 
doned Ayuthia, the old capital, for Bangkok. The story, 
briefly is this : the- present dynasty obtained the throne 
in 1782. Previous to that, Siam had been conquered by 
the Burmans. It was hberated by a half Chinese noble- 
man, with so many names that, upon the authority of 
the present king, I give him only that of Phya Tarksing. 
This noble became king by the best of all titles, common 
consent, and, during the early part of his reign, displayed 
great wisdom, liberality, and prudence — removed to 
Bangkok and built this old palace. But in later years he 
is accused of being mad, imagining himself a god, and 
committing great excesses ; thereujDon they knocked out 
his brains with perfumed sandal-wood clubs, and the 
grandfather of the j^resent king ascended the throne. 
He was succeeded by his son, and upon his death the 
present first aud second kings were the proper succes- 
sors, because they were chaufas, that is, royal by both 



DIPLOMACY IKAUGUEATED. 221 

father and mother ; but being young, they were displaced 
by an older half-brother (the late king), royal by the 
father only. The present king, thinking his claims some- 
what detrimental to the security of his life, took refuge 
in a monastery and became a priest. His brother, tlie 
present second king, then Prince N^oomfanor, occupied 
this old palace, and being then in the freshness of his 
mechanical and scientific pursuits, had the following En- 
ghsh sign over his work-shop : " Clocks and watches 
repaired here." From these circumstances it is seen that 
the throne of Siam is rather in an unsettled succession. 
The office of second king, seems to be for the purpose of 
filling the superior vacancy, and as such many hold it, but 
the first kings are naturally anxious to convey it in their 
line. Such is the steady purpose of the present king, 
and the rivalry and unsettled claims, it is, perhaps scan- 
dalously said, beget bad feeling between the brothers, be- 
sides offering a temptation to any strong politician to 
seize the throne. 

When the late semi-usurper died, the nobles assembled 
to determine who should be his successor. One claim- 
ant and another were brought forward without a decis- 
ion, but our sagacious old friend, the somdecht, and his 
late equally sagacious brother, the older and greater 
somdecht, had quietly got control of the military, and 
remarked to the assemblage that it seemed to have for- 
gotten the rightful heirs, and at once named them to the 
throne, and offered, themselves, to settle any objections 
to such an arrangement. 

The nobles were surprised at their oversight, and at 
once sent to the monastery for the talapoin, and to the 
work-bench for the watchmaker, and thus they became 
their golden-feeted majesties of Siam. 



222 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

XVIII. 

BUDDHISM. 

In" touching upon a religion which influences the char- 
acter and habits of four hundred milHons of the popu- 
lation of the globe, we approach a subject which in its 
magnitude alone should win some attention from the most 
superficial observer ; and now, amid these gorgeous tem- 
ples and sacred groves, those who have this volume in 
hand may be willing to learn what little my own limited 
glance at the subject may impart. 

In our general idea of idolatry and heathenism, we 
picture to ourselves a stupid and degraded people, bow- 
ing in unmeaning reverence to inanimate images ; and, 
although this may be the practical result, we too much 
lose sight of the encouraging and elevated elements or 
influence of human nature, however derived, of w^hich 
that idolatry is but the perverted expression. He who 
claims his religion to be essentially one of charity, owes 
some respect to that which professes to embody itself in 
these two maxims, 

"Whatever happiness there is in the world, it has 
arisen from a wish for the welfare of others." 

"Whatever misery is in the world, it has all arisen 
from a wish for our own welfare.'^ 

It is certainly encouraging proof that man is made in 
the image of his Maker, to see him, without the light of 
divine revelation, constructing theories of moral govern- 
ment, and subjecting whole races and nations to those 
theories, although they inculcate the rigid suppression 
of all his appetites, desires and passions — the subjection 
of his animal to his spiritual nature. 

In this struggle and in its results are seen the want and 



BUDDHISM. 223 

the necessity of revelation. Man struggles with all his 
trembling power to lift himself from the ruin into which 
he has fallen, but only sinks lower, unless God takes him 
by the hand. 

Professor Salisbury, of Yale, proposes as a theory of 
the origin of Buddhism, " A quickening of moral feeling 
against the pantheism of the Brahmins. The tendency 
of the Brahmin philosophy was to confound the Deity 
with the works of his creation. 

" There was a sort of necessity, in opposing pantheism, 
to deny all attributes to God — to conceive of simple ab- 
stract existence as the highest Being." 

Upon the inference of such an abstract non-existent 
Deity is formed the idea of the highest human virtue, 
called by the Buddhists the state of Mrvanha, There 
being some doubts as to whether Buddha was an his- 
torical personage or a mythological creation, various 
proofs of his personal existence have been offered. The 
period of his birth is determined to have been about 
five hundred years before Christ. He is said to have 
belonged to the warrior caste, being the son of a prince 
who ruled over a territory in the north-western corner of 
the province of Oude, on the edge of the Himalaya, the 
distinctive color of the principality being probably yel- 
low ; it has become that of the badge of the Buddhists. 

Several Buddhist nations trace the origin of their re- 
ligion to Ceylon; and the Buddhists of India have re- 
ferred to that island the origin of their faith, but recent 
investigation shows that its primitive seat was India 
itself. 

In Nepaul, written in Sanscrit, have been discovered 
the original Buddhist works, from which those of Thibet 
Mongolia and China have been translated, and thus fixes 
upon India the origin of Buddhism. 

The scriptural canon of the Buddhists has three divis- 



224 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

ions — the Sutra, Yinaya and Abhiclharma. The Tripitaka. 
The Sutra is made up of familiar discourses attributed to 
Buddha himself, is composed of fundamental maxims and 
axioms, and is divided into sections, each of which, accord- 
ing to an apparently prescribed form, begins, 

" This was what was heard by me one day when Bha- 
gavat was in such a place, when such were his auditors," 
and ends thus, " When he had finished his discourse, all 
present were greatly delighted, and approved his doc- 
trine." 

The Vinaya is devoid of these formal commencements 
and terminations, and consists of legends "illustrating 
ceremonial duties by examples of conduct." 

The Abhidharma is held not to have emanated directly 
from Buddha, but to be a sort of digest of the metaphys- 
ical views involved in what he taught. 

As examples of each of these books, Professor Salis- 
bury, from M. Brunouf, gives the following, as the 
simple Sutra : " This is what I have heard. One day 
Bhagavat was at Yaisali by the side of the pond called 
Markalahrada, in the hall called Kutagara. So then, 
Bhagavat having dressed before noon, taking his mantle 
and pitcher, entered Yaisali to receive alms ; and having 
gone through the city for this purpose, he took his re- 
past. When he had eaten, he ceased gathering alms ; 
and, having put up his pitcher, and arranged his mantle, 
repaired to the place where stood the Tchapala-tchaitya, 
and there sought the trunk of a tree, and sat down by 
it to pass the day." 

After some conversation between Buddha and a dis- 
ciple called Ananda, and various terrific natural pheno- 
mena, earthquakes, meteors, a burning horizon, Ananda 
finds out that his master is about to be translated to the 
state of complete extinction. 

" Even now, O Ananda, Bhagavat having made him- 



BUDDHISM. 225 

self master of the elements of life, has renounced exist- 
ence. 

Any being who has investigated, comprehended, prop- 
agated the four principles of supernatural power may, if 
it is asked of him, " hve either to the end of a kalpa, or a 
whole kalpa." 

M. Brunouf defines the four grounds of supernatural 
power to be — 1st. The faculty of conceiving the abandon- 
ment of every idea of desire ; 2d. The abandonment of 
every idea of thought ; 3d. The abandonment of every 
idea of energy ; 4th. The abandonment of every idea of 
knowledge. 

" From all which it results that the Buddhists attribute 
supernatural faculties to him who has reached the point 
of imagining that he has renounced all idea of desire, of 
thought, of effort, and of investigation, or meditation — 
that is, to him who has, as it were, disengaged himself 
from all mental activity." 

The following quotation, made by Professor Salisbury, 
from M. Brunouf, seems to present more fully the doc- 
trine of Buddha. The devotees to whom the words are 
addressed, are assembled in a hall, for the purpose of 
hearing them : 

" All compounds, O, devotees, are perishable ; they are 
not enduring, they can not be rehed upon with confidence ; 
their condition of being is change, so absolutely that it is 
not proper either to think of or to please oneself with 
any thing, as a compound. Therefore, O, devotees, here 
or elsewhere, when I shall be no more, must the laws 
which exist for the benefit of the passing world, and the 
happiness of the passing world, as well for its benefit and 
happiness hereafter, be compiled and comprehended by 
the devotees, and through their instrumentality be pre- 
served, preached and comprehended by others, in order 
that the religious law may continue long, be received by 
10* 



226 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

many peoj)le, and be everywhere propagated, until it shall 
have been completely made manifest to devas and to men. 

" Now, O, devotees, there are laws which exist for the 
benefit of the jDassing world, and the happiness of the 
passing world, as weU as for its benefit and happiness 
hereafter, which must be compiled and comprehended by 
the devotees, and through their instrumentality be pre- 
served, preached and comprehended by others, in order 
that the religious law may continue long, be received by 
many people, and everywhere propagated, until it shall 
have been completely made manifest to devas and to men. 
These laws are the four applications of thought : ' 1. The 
body ; 2. Sensation ; 3. Thought ; 4. The law.' ' The four 
complete renunciations,' already given ; ' the four princi- 
ples of supernatural power, the five senses, the five powers, 
the seven constituent elements of the state of Buddha ; 
the sublime way consisting of eight parts, ^. e., the sub- 
lime course of life, consisting of right, or just and regular 
right, will, efibrt, action, life, language, thought, medi- 
tation.' 

" Such are the laws, O, devotees, which exist for the 
benefit of the passing world, and the happiness of the 
passing world, as well as for its benefit and happiness 
hereafter, and which the devotees, having compiled and 
comprehended, must cause to be preserved, preached and 
comprehended by others, in order that the religious law 
may continue long, be received by many people, and be 
everywhere propagated, until it shall have been com- 
pletely made manifest to devas and to men. ' Let us go, 
Ananda, towards Kusigramaha.' 'Be it so, O vene- 
rable,' rephed the respectable Ananda, ' to Bhagavat.' " 

As a specimen of the Vinaya, given by the treatise 
from which we are quoting, we have the legend of a cer- 
tain commercial adventurer, named Purna, who, on one 
of his voyages, hears, accidentally, of Buddha and his 



BUDDHISM. 227 

doctrine, and determines to become a devotee and recluse. 
He, therefore, holds personal communion with Buddha, 
and addresses him in the following words : " Let Bhaga- 
vat consent to teach me the law briefly, and having thus 
heard it from the lips of Bhagarot, I may live alone, re- 
tired from the world, in some desert place, exposed to no 
distraction, with mind attentive, intent, and collected. 
After I have lived retired from the world in solitude, ex- 
posed to no distraction, with mind intent, attentive and 
collected, might I, having known by my own immediate 
cognizance, having seen, face to face, the supreme end of 
the life of a devotee, that is, the life led by the sons of a 
family, when, after shaving the hair of the head and 
beard, and putting on yeUow garments, they leave home 
with a perfect faith, and become mendicants — ^might I, I 
say, having myself received the investiture, cause others 
to adopt the Hfe of a devotee ? I am no more subject to 
the condition of birth ; I have fulfilled the duties of the 
life of a devotee ; I have accompHshed what I had to do ; 
I know no other state than that in which I am." 

Buddha then explains to Purna the doctrine of Nirvanha. 
" When there is no pleasure, there is neither satisfaction 
nor complacence, When there is neither satisfaction nor 
complacence, there is no passion. When there is no 
passion, there is no enjoyment. When there is no enjoy- 
ment, the devotee, O, Purna, the devotee who is affected 
neither with pleasure, passion, nor enjoyment, is said to 
be very near to Nirvanha. There are, O Purna, sounds 
adapted to the ear, odors to the smell, tastes to the sense 
of taste, feelings to the touch, laws to the mind, all which 
are qualities desired, sought after, loved, transporting, 
giving rise to passion, and exciting the desires. If a 
devotee, perceiving these qualities, has no satisfaction in 
them, seeks not after them, feels no inclination towards 



228 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

them, has no complacence in them, it results that he has 
no pleasure — he is said to be very near to ISTirvanha." 

The following are specimens of the Abhidharma : "Again, 
O Bhagavat, the Bodhisattva, to whom it belongs to 
live in perfection of wisdom, to meditate on that must not 
stoj) at form, nor at sensation, nor at idea, nor at con- 
ception, nor at consciousness. Why so ? Because, if he 
stojDS at form, he lives in the notion that form exists — he 
lives not in perfection of wisdom. And so if he stops at 
sensation, at idea, at conception, at consciousness, he lives 
in the notion that all these have an existence — he lives 
not in perfection of wisdom. Why so ? Because he who 
lives in that notion, grasps not at perfection of wisdom, 
brings not his faculties up to it, does not attain it. N^ot 
attaining to perfection of wisdom, he will not reach om- 
niscience, because he grasps at that which is intangible. 
Why so ? Because to one in the state of perfection of 
wisdom, form is intangible ; and the same is true of sen- 
sation, idea, conceptions, consciousness — all which are 
things intangible to one in the state of perfection of 
wisdom." 

From such a transcendental and Unintelligible an ideal- 
ity — such an abstraction into annihilation — such an effort 
to leap, not alone from earth and corporeal existence, but 
even from spiritual existence — has naturally grown their 
wide gardens and deep solitudes, their banyan-tree groves 
and marbles seats and temples, with the lotus-leaved lakes 
upon which they are placed. And from such an attempt 
to make or substitute the works and deeds of man as an 
atonement for the corruptions of his heart, have arisen 
the waste of gilded temples and idols, the wide-spread beg- 
gary and dead stagnation of armies of Buddhist monks. 

It was an attempt of human reason to avoid, by an 
earthly existence, the penalty of Brahminical transmigra- 
tion, and to reach at once the tranquillity of Nirvanha. 



DIPLOMACY. 229 

In the words of Professor Salisbury, " The means which 
Buddha directed to be used for obtaming the supreme 
good were chiefly moral. It was the sum of his teachings 
that desire must be loosed from all objects of sense, ' as a 
drop of water falls off from the lotus leaf' He, however, 
enforced this detachment from sensible objects on princi- 
ples which involved the denial of reality in any thing ob- 
jective, and he required his disci|)les to possess themselves 
of these principles by deep meditation, as a condition of 
their reaching Nirvanha. Voluntary poverty, chastity, 
knowledge, energy, patience, charity, or self-sacrifice for 
the good of others, which, in the course of time, received 
the name of the ' six transcendent perfections,' were the 
special duties inculcated by the new teacher ; and it is 
worthy of notice that a pure spirit pervades the ancient 
Buddhist legends, which, as contrasted with the moral 
laxity of those of the Brahmins, evinces, at least, a tem- 
porary reformation of morals in India, effected by Buddha. 
It can not be doubted, indeed, that the more elevated idea 
of the social position of woman, belonging, as we have 
reason to suppose, to primitive Buddhism, must itself 
have exerted no little influence m favor of a superior tone 
of morality." 



XIX. 

DIPLOMACY ; THE HAREM IN THE HALL. 

It was seen that we arrived in Siam on the lOtIi of 
April, and it was not until a month later that the first 
meeting relative to the treaty took place between the 
commissioner on the part of the United States, and those 
on the part of the King of Siam. So long as the British 
negotiator was present, there seemed to be a reluctance to 



230 , SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

undertake any thing else, and various were the causes of 
delay. 

On Monday, the 12th of May, we thought the work 
would begin, but then it was found there had been a mis- 
take in the translation of the precept. On Wednesday, 
14th, Mr. Parkes was to have an audience ; on Thursday, 
one was given the Portuguese Consul, who had been wait- 
ing for the chance more than a year, and on that same 
day Mr. Parkes took his departure. The next day, Fri- 
day, they were ready for us. 

The commissioners on the part of the King of Siam 
were : 

His Royal Highness the Prince Krom Hluang Wongsa 
D'Hiraj Snidh ; 

His Excellency Somdecht Chau Phaya Param Maha 
Bijai Neate ; 

His Excellency Chau Phaya Sri Suriwongse Samaha 
Pra Kallahone ; 

His Excellency Chau Phaya Pawe Wangu Maha Kosa 
Dhipade, the Prah Klan ; and 

His Excellency Chau Phaya Romraj, the Lord Mayor. 

The first interview w^as at the house of our friend, 
Prince Wongsa, and the Pra Kallahone came to it in 
some annoyance. He had been ordered by the king, as 
the other nobles had, to provide a wreath of flowers for 
some festival on Monday. He said he could not do it in 
time. He might be deprived of his office or his head, 
but it was impossible, and he must abide the conse- 
quences. 

The recently-made British treaty was read over, and, in 
its main features, adopted as the model of ours. That 
treaty provides that, after ten years' residence, British 
subjects shall have the right of purchasing and holding 
property in the city of Bangkok. The reason assigned 



DIPLOMACY. 231 

for requiring tMs time is, that they may learn something 
of the language and habits of the people. This was un- 
hesitatingly incorporated in the British treaty, because 
the time was altogether prospective, there being at the 
time no known British residents. But the commissioners 
were startled when such an article was about to become 
jDart of an American treaty, because the American mis- 
sionaries, had already been the prescribed time, and 
more, and at once acquired the right of purchase. The 
proposition was the more annoying to them, because of a 
serious difficulty which had recently arisen. A Siamese 
female, in the family of one of the missionaries, had bought 
a piece of property in her own name, but for the use of 
the family in w^hich she resided. For this she had been 
imprisoned, and tried by the Siamese authorities, but sub- 
sequently acquitted, the property remaining with her. 
The commissioners wished to make this ten years' resi- 
dence, as applicable to Americans, prospective also ; but 
it was argued, upon their own ground, that there was no 
reason for it, as the required knowledge had been obtain- 
by their past residence. 

An article of the British treaty provides for the mutual 
protection of British subjects in Siam, and Siamese in 
British territoiy. This, the Pra Kallahone very justly 
remarked, meant something between the English and 
themselves, because the English had neighboring terri- 
tory; but, as Siamese were not likely to fall into the United 
States, there could be but little reciprocity. He there- 
fore suggested, as an equivalent for this protection grant- 
ed our people, that United States government ships shall 
be required to protect Siamese vessels against piracy and 
accidents of the seas, and that United States consuls 
in foreign ports extend then- protection to distressed 
Siamese. 

On Saturday, May 24th, the last meeting was held, and 



232 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

the negotiations complete, to the great delight of all of 
us, who were getting very tired of Siam, especially those 
who were confined to the monotony of the ship in the 
shoal waters of the Gulf of Siam. 

"When all the papers were written up and signed, on 
the 29th of May, the important fact was announced to the 
world by the Siamese batteries. The king being relieved 
from the burden of the business matter, was desirous of 
having an opportunity of continuing his hospitality to us, 
and of amusing us. But, the business over, we took our 
departure. The king sent the United States commis- 
sioner the following letter : 

SUPERSCRIPTION. 

The Siamese royal credentials, given in hands of Hon- 
orable Townsend Harris, Esquire, the American envoy for 
receipts of the letter and valued presents brought from 
United States of America, and complying the necessity 
concerned therein and promised for royal letter in answer 
and proper presents on other opportunity : 

" Somdecht Pra Paramendre Maha Mongkut. By 
the blessing of highest and greatest superagency of uni- 
verse. 

" The King of Siam and Sovereign of all tributary 
countries adjacent, in eveiy direction, namely, Laos, 
Cambodia, Kariangs, and most of Malay Peninsula, and 
professor of Pah language and Buddhistical Uterature, 
etc., etc. To all and a singular to whom these presents 
shall come greeting : 

" "We have acknowledged the receipt of the letter of 
the President of United States of America, whose name 
is Frankhn Pierce, dated City Washington, 12th of Sep- 
tember, 1855, handed us by Hon. Townsend Harris, Esq., 
who is the envoy appointed to make a new treaty 
with us, as amending the old treaty of the said country 



DIPLOMACY. 233 

with ours, for being improved and more advantageous to 
both sides, in similar manner of that with English govern- 
ment just done. We have the said letter perused at pres- 
ent of our supreme court, on the 1st day of May, 1856. 

" Agreeably to request of government of United States 
of America we have counsel of whole royalty and our 
counsel, and appointed one of our royal brothers, three 
high ministers, officers of state, who were totally four in- 
dividuals, ever have been aj^pointed plenipotentiaries in 
our part and held the consultation and made the new 
treaty with Sir John Bowring, English plenipotentiary, on 
last year, and add the other one in place of our first re- 
gent, who had been one of the five j^lenipotentiaries in 
last year and lost his life in the time of the treaty with 
Eoghsh was just sealed and signed on 18th April, 1855, 
so our plenipotentiaries were full five individuals, invested 
with full j)ower to make the new treaty of friendship and 
commerce between Siam and United States of America, 
in our part and hold consultation with Townsend Harris, 
Esquu-e, the envoy plenipotentiaiy of United States of 
Ar.:Grica. Their names and offices were fully mentioned 
in the form of the treaty. Although they were appointed 
by us on very early part of current month, but in conse- 
quence of their business in being our royal commissioners 
to make the agreement — which is a commentary of the 
treaty with Enghsh, both old and new — ^with Mr. Harry 
Smith Parkes, who was the bearer of ratification of the 
new treaty fi'om England for exchange here and prepare 
all its provisions after that agreement was done on late of 
the present month. They have held the consultation with 
Townsend Harris, Esquire, on a few occasions. The Amer- 
ican envoy has formed the new treaty in very similar man- 
ner of that of English and wrote in duplicates which were 
concluded by signatures of both Siamese and American 
plenipotentiaries, on the 29th of May, 1856. 



234 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

"After which date Townsend Harris, Esquire, was in 
greatest hurrying for his departure on Slst of May ; we 
could not postpone his departure for a few days more in 
next week ; we regret very much we could not furnish 
proper royal letter, in answer to the letter addressed us 
from President of United States of America, and already 
in picking and preparing the suitable royal presents for 
the President, who have goodness enough to offer us his 
good fiiendshij^, remarked by his valued presents de- 
signed to us on this occasion. As the time is very nar- 
row between the day of the conclusion of the treaty and 
departure of the envoy, therefore, for declaration our 
being sincerely gratitude to the President of United 
States of America indeed, and for our further promise 
that we send our royal letter and suitable royal presents 
to America on other occasion by any rate when good op- 
portunity allow. We wi'ote these present with our royal 
hand and seal, with great seal of our kingdom and our 
official and particular seal for our royal standard, to be 
a credentials from us in hand of Hon. Townsend Harris, 
Esq., the envoy. 

"Given at our court of Bangkok, on the Saturday 12th, 
the waning moon in the lunar month of "Wesakh, in the 
year of Quadruped Serpent, bearing the number of 
Siamese astronomical era, 1218, corresponding to the 
31st May, 1856, of Christian era, which is the sixth of our 
reign. 

"S. P. MONGKUT, 
" First King of Slam?'' 

List of Presents sent the Kings of Slam by the United 
States Government, 

Two splendid mirrors, very thick plates, measuring 
eighty inches by fifty-six inches, with frames finely carved 
out of solid wood, and richly gilt. 



DIPLOMACY. 235 

Two superior solar chandeliers, each eight lights, or- 
molu gildings, after the premium models of the World's 
Exhibition in 1851. Thirty-six cut glass globes for the 
same. Thirty-six plain glass chimneys. Seventy-two 
dozen of lamp- wicks. 

One compound achromatic microscope, of the most ap- 
proved form, for the magnifying of minute objects, with 
three eye-pieces of different powers. 

Four sets of achromatic object-glasses of different fo- 
cusses, double mirror, movable stage, diagonal eye-piece, 
condenser, dissecting instruments, box of objects, and 
camera lucida, by which an accurate drawing of any ob- 
ject viewed in the microscope may be taken. 

One solar microscope, by which a magnified image of 
any object is represented on a white wall or screen ; has 
three rack adjustments, three-inch condensing lens, three 
object-glasses of different magnifying powers, and three 
objects finely prepared. 

A small box containing twelve finely-prepared objects 
for the solar microscope. 

One small box, containing twelve finely-prepared ob- 
jects for the compound achromatic microscope. 

A book descriptive of the objects most interesting for 
the microscope, with many plates. 

One Sharpe's patent primer rifle, octagon barrel, globe 
sight, No. 32 guage, and German silver mounted. Two 
Ibs; of Sharpe's primers. One hundred cartridges. 

One rich- engraved, extra fine finished, richly- gilt ivory- 
handled Colt»s five-inch pistol, in rich, brass-bound rose- 
wood case, velvet-lined, with fine extra plated flasks, 
molds, wrench-key, etc., best percussion caps, powder, 
balls, etc., complete. 

One portrait, life size, of General Washington. 

One portrait, life size, of General Pierce. 

One Republican Court, or Society in the Days of Gen- 



236 - SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

eral "Washington, illustrated and splendidly bound, scarlet 
Turkey morocco, full gilt. 

One Webster's American Dictionary, unabridged, bound 
in scarlet Turkey morocco, full gilt, and lettered, " Pre- 
sented to His Majesty the King of Siam, by Franklin 
Pierce, President of the United States of America." 

One colored view of the City of Washington. 

One colored view of the City of New Orleans. 

One colored view of the city of New York from St. 
Paul's Church. 

One colored view of the City of New York from the 
Bay. 

One colored view of the City of Boston. 

One colored view of the Senate Chamber at Washing- 
ton. 

One colored view of the City of Philadelphia. 

One colored view of West Point. 

One colored view of the Crystal Palace, New York. 

One tinted view of the City of New Orleans. 

One view of an express railway train. 

One map of the United States from Atlantic to Pacific 
Oceans, on rollers. 

After the ratification of the treaty, the King of Siam 
sent, with the ratified copy, the following letter to the 
United States : 

Letter of the King of Siam^ written hy him in English 
and accompanying the ratified treaty loith the United 
States : 

" This copy of the treaty, regulations and tarifiT have 
been written in both characters and languages of English 
and Siamese, and signed and sealed by each one of the re- 
spective plenipotentiaries of both sides, was received from 



DIPLOMACY. 237 

Townsend Harris, Esquire, by our officers of foreign affairs, 
and conveyed here and delivered to us for perusal and 
our approbation and ratification and signature with our 
royal manual signs and seals, and has been kept in this 
palace waiting to exchange with the ratified treaty re- 
turned from Washington. We have perused and seen 
and understood the whole contents of this treaty, and 
found both English and Siamese very nearly similar a copy 
of the treaty made with the English plenipotentiary, only 
such changes in names of persons and country and of 
form, as would be proper in a treaty between Siam and 
America. We consider that the treaty in this form will 
be favorable for foreign merchants who will trade and 
reside here, but we were waiting upon the President and 
Senate of the United States of America, who we have not 
yet ascertained will like all the articles of the new treaty, 
or will correct some portion, for what consequence we hesi- 
tate our ratification before the present time. Having waited 
twelve months, until at this occasion the envoy of the United 
States, Charles William Bradley, LL.D., has arrived, having 
credentials that he was sent by President James Buchanan, 
who entered upon the office of President on Wednesday, 
4th of waxing moon, in the lunar month of Phagim, being 
fourth month in the year of Drugin (Dragon?) in 1218 
of Siamese era, corresponding to 4th of March, 1857, in 
the place of Franklin Pierce who sent Townsend Harris, 
Esq., to negotiate the treaty in the previous year. This 
American envoy has come at this time for the purpose of 
exchanging the treaty ratified and sealed with the seal of 
the United States for the one kept here, and will be sealed 
with our royal seals, and signed with our royal hand. 
Mr. Charles Wm. Bradley has informed to our officers of 
state that the new or recent President and Senate of the 
United States desire to amend the treaty by striking out 
the fifth article as one not inserted in any American treaty 



238 . SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

with other nations, all others to remain in force. The 
Siamese j^rincipal officers of state thought the fifth article 
could not be omitted, as it was found in the treaties with 
England, the ratification of which had been exchanged in 
the previous year, and in the treaty also with France con- 
cluded in ultimate year ; and if it should be struck out of 
the American treaty it must also be struck out of the En- 
glish and French treaties, and the foreign merchants would 
wander through the country without passports, and some 
difficulties would arise, and the Siamese officers could with 
difficulty protect them, and the seamen would desert, and 
they could not easily be retaken, or apprehended accord- 
ing to consider requisite. They therefore desired that it 
might remain. 

" Mr. Bradley, the bearer of the ratification, has replied 
to our officers of state, that the ratification of the President, 
with the fifth article struck out, had already been placed 
after the end of the treaty which he had brought for ex- 
change, as the President and Senate had trusted that the 
Siamese government would consent ; but if they were un- 
willing it should be repealed altogether, he desired they 
would consent to strike out the fifth article of the treaty, 
and to enact it as a seventh regulation. To this the Siamese 
royal commissioners consented and agreed to be guided by; 
and as there was no room to place the seventh regulation 
at the close of the previous regulations, the Siamese royal 
commissioners, with Mr. Bradley, the American envoy, 
and Mr. Stephen Mattoon, the American consul, agreed 
to such regulation to be a new agreement, to be written 
in both Siamese and English style, and signatured with 
the seals of the Siamese royal commissioners and Ameri- 
can envoy and American consul, and to attach it to the 
two copies of the treaty about to be exchanged at this 
time ; and to this proposal we both do unanimously agree 
with great pleasure, and respectfully accept, and confirm 



DIPLOMACY. 289 

and ratify, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, by 
placing our royal promise that we will sincerely, faithfully 
and carefully perform and observe all things here to be 
fulfilled and connected with all articles of the treaty, reg- 
ulations and tariff; and will recommend our officers of 
state to be always circumspective in prohibiting every 
individual and party in our subjects, that none should vio- 
late or transgress the same in any manner, as far as in our 
ages and reign, according to our power and ability to 
govern the people of this half civilized and half barbarous 
nation, being of various races, languages, religions, etc. ; 
for which nations we are still afraid that any one indi- 
vidual or party among such nations, being very ignorant 
of civiHzed and enhghtened customs and usages, may mis- 
understand any thing or things contained or expressed in 
the treaty, and do according to his or their knowledge, 
which may be contradictory to some clauses of any articles 
of treaty ; and yet we will observe accurately, and com- 
mand our officers of state to correct the wrong as soon as 
possible, whenever the American consul might complain 
to our officers of state directly, with whom our officers of 
state will be joined in correction and adjustment of such 
matter of complaint. If there be different understanding 
between the American consul and our officers of state, we 
will cause our ministers to hold conference, asking true 
decision by consultation of United States government and 
the Siamese council, or every member of our government 
here unanimously concluded that this minor country shall 
have refuge under the grace, mercy and indulgence of 
superior powerful major country, such as the United 
States. 

" We now have embraced the best opportunity to have 
made and exchanged the treaty of friendship and com- 
merce with United States of America, and we shall be 
very glad to esteem the President of the United States, at 



240 * SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

present and in future, as our respected friend, and esteem 
the United States as united in close friendship, as we know 
that the government of the United States must ever act 
with justice, and is not often embroiled in difficulties with 
other nations ; and if the treaty of friendship between the 
United States and Siam has been long preserved in har- 
mony and peaceful manner, it will ever be the occasion of 
the highest praise among the Siamese people. And now 
for greater testimony of unanimous fulfilling of willfulness 
of whole Siamese government in this treaty, we have 
caused the great seals of Siamese kingdom, with its whole 
dependencies, to be pressed on first page of this document, 
one in the shape of the divine elephant, bearing three heads 
called ayerrubats, and the other to be affixed in figure of 
the Nazayn angel of four arms, standing on Grudh named 
Grudhabah ; and we have also signed with our royal hands, 
and sealed with our respective official and standard royal 
seals, both impressing and affixing in the suitable parts 
therein. 

" Given at our royal pyramidical residence, named Pra 
Tinang Dusit Molia Prasad, in the grand royal palace 
Ratnekosindr, Bangkok for exchanging to-day, on Mon- 
day the 8th of waning moon of the seventh month (Temar 
month of Jesh), being of the year of the Quadruplicate 
Serpent, answering to the IStli of June, 1857, which is 
the seventh of our reign. 

" SuPEEMus Rex, 

" SlAMEXSIUM, 

" S. P. R. MONGKUT, 

"The First King of Siam aud Dependencies, reigning 2223 days ago." 

While WQ were waiting the tediousness of diplomacy, 
Ave were invited, on Friday, May 0th, by the first king, to 
attend, at the palace, a laokon, or ballet oi:)eratic perform- 
ance, in which all the performers are females. 



THE HAEEM IN THE HALL. 241 

The king's boats were sent for us, and we were borne 
from the landing, in palanquins, upon men's shoulders, to 
the place of performance. This soon became apparent 
from the sounds of native music which greeted our ears, 
and the throng of natives and files of soldiers surrounding 
it. The theatre was a large and lofty shed, closed only 
at one end, the roof supported upon posts wrapped in red 
cotton cloth, and roofed, or rather ceiled with the same 
material of a blue color. The floor, of smooth plaster or 
cement, was matted. Our host, his golden-footed majesty — 
where is he ? Along the whole length of the left side of 
the building, at an elevation of several feet, was an apart- 
ment or stage, shut in to the height of three feet by a 
fronting of gold and crimson cloth. From the lofty ceil- 
ing to this floor hung curtains of cloth of gold, but now 
drawn back upon their cords. In the centre of this apart- 
ment, close to its front, and slightly elevated above it, sat 
the king. He wore a tunic of white muslin, a purple sash 
crossed his body, from the shoulder, and a yellow one 
around his waist, a silken sarong of course, and on his 
head a purple velvet cap with a single large jewel in its 
front. Some of his higher and favorite nobles were lying 
on the same platform with himself— we could just see 
theu' heads — and others lay crouched on the floor below 
the platform, the same that was occupied by ourselves and 
the performers. 

'Neav the ascent to the king's apartment was a rich gold 
palanquin throne, over the seat of which was thrown a 
crimson silk cloth with broad golden borders. Just out- 
side of the theatre stood another gilded palanquin, but, 
unlike the first, roofed and curtained ; near this were two 
Arabian horses, richly caparisoned, and with cloths of 
silk and gold thrown over their saddles, and reaching 
almost to the ground on either side. The closed end of 
the building contained the apartments of the performers; 

11 



242 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

at the opposite end, directly fronting the stage, and on a 
level with it, chairs were placed for our accommodation. 
Seated on the ground along the whole line of the theatre 
to our right, were the musicians, one band of male and 
one of female performers, the latter much the larger, and 
sung the story which was carried on by the actors in 
dumb show, only occasionally a few words passing be- 
tween the actors on the stage. The performance was 
going on at the time of our arrival, and soon after 
taking our seats a party of twenty girls, from eight to 
eighteen years of age, came upon the stage. These rep- 
resented the prince of the play and his attendants. The 
gorgeousness of costume was brilliantly magnificent and 
defies description, either in general efiect or in detail. It 
was the realization of the imagery of eastern fairy tales, 
bewildering the imagination of our youth. If, in an at- 
tempted description, I sj^eak of silken cloth of gold, al- 
though I mean one surface of the glittering metal laid on 
a silken fabric, it implies many hues and figures, from the 
bright metallic lustre of a smooth surface, to figured tex- 
tures which by changing folds and the varied gleaming ol 
the light, gave tints fi-om almost silvery whiteness, through 
various depths of yellow, to orange-red, and yet all gold. 
I will attempt to describe m detail the costume of the 
girl representing the prince, and it was in no respects more 
elegant than any of her attendant train. Her head was 
covered with a conical golden crown, glittering with jew- 
els, many of which were diamonds. A jacket of dia- 
mond-shaped figured i^urple silk and gold, fitted tightly 
to her body ; the arms were closely covered with sleeves 
woven in narrow rings of alternate light and darker 
shades of gold, and about six inches of the lower part of 
the arm were covered with heavy golden bracelets ; the 
fingers were loaded with jewels, and terminated by arti- 
ficial nails of gold diminishing to wires six inches long, 



THE HAREM IN THE HALL. 243 

curved back toward the wrist. The sarong or petticoat 
was of a delicate rose-colored, changeable silk, with nar- 
row lines or bars of gold thread. It passed in full folds 
around the lower part of the body, and where it fell 
aiJound each limb like the loose leg of short trowsers, had 
a figured border six inches wide. Her ankles and feet 
were bare. A sash of figured gold cloth, twelve inches 
broad, passed tightly around her waist, one end fell Hke 
an apron m front of her person, and the glitter of this was 
reheved by a centre of dark green silk, supporting a fig- 
ure of gold embroidery, and the ends had a border of 
three oval spaces of maroon-colored silk, with central 
figures of gold. The other extremity of this sash was 
divided into two narrower slips of figured gold cloth, one 
hanging down the outside of each limb. A collar of gold 
and diamonds passed around the neck and hung low 
on the shoulders and breast, being fastened in front by a 
rosette of diamonds. With the exception that they wore 
much prettier golden and jeweled coronets instead of the 
conical crown, and the variety of colors of their silks, all 
the costumes of this bevy, representing males, were simi- 
lar to those I have described. Some of the sarongs were 
maroon, some purple, some dark green, but all richly em- 
broidered in gold, and all the silks were of that heavy, 
soHd, cloth-like thickness which is characteristic of the 
richest and most costly material. In the train of the 
princess of the play there was a corresponding number 
of attendants, dressed in like manner, but all having, in 
addition, a rich mantle which, faUing below the breast in 
front, passed over the shoulders and extending almost to 
the ground behind. Most of these mantles were of nar- 
row stripes of cherry, green or purple silk and gold. Two 
of them were entirely covered with gold embroidery, 
glittermg m changeable hues. The face, neck, arms, and 
feet of these girls— all exposed parts of the person— were 



244 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

rubbed with a mixture of some white powder and turme- 
ric, and the effect of this coloring was, strange to say, 
not unpleasant, giving them a softer, Avhiter, and more 
delicate yellow than the natural complexion. The per- 
formance consisted mainly in a slow dancing, or rather 
posturing, sometimes of a single person, and sometimes of 
the entire company, in time with the music, and the sing- 
ing by the musicians, of the romance the actors were illus- 
trating. The measured motions of the limbs and body, 
though monotonous and little varied, were not ungraceful, 
and the grouping of these splendid costumes, and glitter- 
ing crowns in regular figures, or in lines, sometimes sit- 
ting on the floor, sometimes standing the whole length of 
the stage, was dazzling in its effect. 

I observed closely, during this performance, the king 
and the Pra Kallahone. The former has been charged 
with giving too much of his time to these dissipations to 
the detriment of the interests of the kingdom, but he 
seemed now to give no attention to the scenes of the 
stage ; but to be busily engaged in wi'iting, or in business 
consultations with the nobles about him. The jDrime min- 
ister was lying on the floor beneath the throne, on the 
same level with us. Much of the time he lay with his 
face to the wall and his back to the actors, and when fac- 
ing them his intelligent, calm, and mysterious countenance 
was turned toward our party with a thoughtful and ab- 
stracted expression, and I fancied he was looking at the 
hand-writing upon the wall, and reading the future of his 
coimtry. 



ROYAL SIAMESE LITERATURE. 245 



XX. 

ROYAL SIAMESE LITERATURE. 

The following account of the illness and death of the 
queen, wife of the present first king, has some interest, 
being written by the king himself, and showing his attain- 
ments ; the condition of medicine in Siam, and also the 
nature of certain Siamese customs : 

An account of the most lamentable illness and death of Her young 
and amiable Majesty the Queen Somanass Waddhanawaihy, 
the laivful royal consort of His most excellent and gracious Maj- 
esty jSomdetch Pra Paramender Maha MongTcut, the reigning 
King of Siam. 

This princess was born on the 21st of December, 1834, 
and w^as the only daughter of his royal highness Prince 
Zaks ^N'anugun, who died in the beginning of June, 1855, 
six months after the birth of this princess, whereupon his 
late gracious Majesty Somdetch Phra, N'ang Klau C. Y. 
H., took great compassion on the orjDhan princess, and 
took her to the grand royal palace, adopting her as his 
own daughter. She was placed under the care of her 
aunt, her royal highness the Princess Welasee, who also 
died during her niece's infancy. After this event, the 
late king had exceeding great compassion on his adopted 
child, and made a royal mandate endowing her with all 
the estate and retainers of her natural father, as also with 
those of her royal aunt. He also conferred upon her all 
the honors and privileges belonging to the highest rank 
of royal children, and gave her the title of Phra Ong 
Chau Somanass Waddhanawathy. At the ceremony of 
cutting off her hair, she being then twelve years of age, 
her adopted father made a royal procession suitable to 
princesses of the highest royal birth, who are entitled 



246 SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

Chau-fa, or cliildreii of royalty by a princess of royal 
birth. The ceremony of the hair's cutting of their pres- 
ent majesties, the first and the second kings, were also 
celebrated in the same manner, they both being of the 
highest royal birth. This princess was, therefore, re- 
sj^ected by a great many people, both native and foreign, 
and by all the adjacent tributary countries during the 
late reign. On the demise of his majesty SomdetchPhra 
Nang Klau, C. Y. H., the late King of Siam, and acces- 
sion to the throne of his successor, Somdetch Phra Pa- 
ram en der Maha Mongkut, the reigning king, the whole 
council of royalty and nobility, seeing that this princess 
was without a protector, had great compassion on her, 
and unanimously proposed that she should be united by 
marriage and coronation to his majesty, the reigning 
king, as his royal consort. 

Not a single dissenting voice was heard at this propo- 
sition, as they knew that his majesty had just returned 
from the priesthood, (which he had avowed for twenty- 
seven years) and had no lawful consort by whom he 
might expect an heir to future royal authority. The 
ceremony of the royal nuptial and coronation took place 
on the 2d of January, 1852, his majesty being then 
forty-eight, and the queen sixteen years of age. Since 
she was married and crowned in full dignity as queen- 
consort, she was respected both in private and in public, 
and was treated with the highest honor by the whole 
Siamese nation, and often received respectful compli- 
ments and presents from the adjacent tributary com- 
munities, and even friendship presents from certain noble 
persons and gentlemen of foreign countries, who were 
formerly correspondents of his majesty, the present king, 
so that she was well and happy for six months. But alas ! 
it was the pleasure of Superagency (God, merits and de- 
merits, and demons, or, according to difierent faiths) that it 



EOYAL SIAMESE LITEKATUEE. 247 

should be otherwise ; an unfortunate event befel her, and 
she became ill of a fatal disease, which at. first appeared 
curable by all the physicians, both foreign and native, 
they professing it to be only a natural consequence of her 
condition. On the 25th of June, 1852, the disease first 
showed itself by great pains in the umbilical region, ac- 
companied by vomiting ; at this time the physicians then 
observed that the disease was in the abdomen. After the 
eclipse of the moon of the 1st of July, she seemed to re- 
cover her health ; but alas ! after forty days her former 
painful suffering returned, until the 18th of August, when 
her disease became serious. On the 21st of August (at 
1 p. M.) her majesty was safely delivered of a male royal 
infant. Her royal son was alive, but very feeble, crying 
and giving the usual signs of infantile life. A great many 
persons of royalty and nobihty were immediately assem- 
bled with the officers of the palace, and welcomed the 
royal heir's arrival by birth, with the highest order of 
music, and other demonstrations of joy. They made its 
bed in the golden seat, covered with white, and sur- 
rounded with valuable royal weapons, a book, pencil; 
and in accordance with the ancient royal custom. Alas, 
the weak royal infant only lived three hours after its 
birth ! it died at 4 p. m., on the same day, its life being 
but a brief one. 

The officers then secretly carried away the body, letting 
her majesty believe that it was well, and in another room, 
as her former sickness was still on her. That same night 
her majesty became worse, and vomited so frequently 
that she almost died from the attack. The Siamese offi- 
cial physicians tried to revive her, but they could not suc- 
ceed to stop the painful vomiting even for half an hour. 

His royal highness Prince Krom Hluang Wongsa 
Dhiraj Sniddh administered some homeoiDathic medi- 
cines, from the effect of which her majesty's frequent 



248 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

vomiting was relieved, and she bad the happiness to have 
a good sleep, at four or live o'clock, a. m. Next day, 
the 23d of August, his majesty the king, and his royal 
highness the Prince Krom Hluang Wongsa Dhiraj 
Sniddb, and a great many princes and princesses, with 
the servants of her majesty, consulted with several Siam- 
ese physicians, and took the counsel of all who were in 
her service, as to j^lacing her under the care of Dr. Brad- 
ley, one of the American physicians now in Siam, who had 
been called to consult with them. Dr. Bradley treated 
her majesty's disease according to the homeopathic mode, 
which has but lately been introduced into Siam by him- 
self. His system of applying medicines is not so much 
believed in by the Siamese as it ought to be. 

It was thought necessary to indulge her majesty a lit- 
tle in her desire to follow the Siamese mode of being con- 
fined. She, accordingly, lay alongside of a fire (the 
universal practice of Siamese females after child-birth),* 
although Dr. Bradley, and a few believers in his system 
of medicine, who were present, were of a contrary opin- 
ion ; and her majesty was then placed under the homeo- 
pathic mode of treatment of Dr. Bradley. Under his 
care, her majesty was a little relieved from her frequent 
attacks of squeamishn ess, vomiting, and fever. 

She had frequent attacks of this disease for seven or 
eight days, until the 28th of August, being the seventh 
day after the death of her royal son. Prince Chau-fa (an 
honored appellation applied to children and persons born 
of the king by the queen, or of any high prince by a 
pricenss of the rank of Chaufa, or, in other words, born 
of parents that are both Chau-fli), when her majesty hav- 
ing known of the death of her royal son. 

Their majesties (the king and queen) then prepared 
valuable presents, and ofiered them to an assembly of 
* 14 days usually. 



EOYAL SIAMESE LITERATURE. 249 

Buddhist priests, and scattered balls, containing coins, to 
the people, in every direction, from her majesty's resi- 
dence. This money was prepared, as customary on such 
events, for offerings at the death of her majesty's son, 
Prince Chau-fa. Since the 29th and 30th of August, 
however, her majesty, mifortunately, became worse, and 
discharged from her stomach large quantities of bile, of a 
dark and yellowish color, and accompanied by fever. Dr. 
Bradley then begged of the princes and nobles that her 
majesty should withdraw from the fire, and entirely fol- 
low his mode of treatment. This was complied with, and, 
being entirely under the care of Dr. Bradley, at length 
her majesty seemed slowly to recover. The vomiting 
was less frequent, and the fever disappeared, but she con- 
tinued gradually taking less food, and thereby became 
very feeble and thin. In this state her majesty continued 
until the 11th of September, when her feet appeared to be 
swollen, and other bad symptoms appeared, which much 
alarmed her friends and relatives. They consulted to- 
gether, and resolved to try a Siamese physician. In fact, 
"her majesty had not much belief in Dr. Bradley's system 
of medicine, as he was a foreigner, and she would npt 
credit the statements of Dr. Bradley, and others that be- 
lieved in homeopathy, that a few drops of spirits in a 
spoonful of water would cure her disease. Her majesty, 
therefore, tried again a Siamese j)hysician, who adminis- 
tered to her medicines after the Siamese mode. But she 
got no better under his treatment, and even grew worse, 
so much so that no Siamese physician would take her case 
in hand. Dr. Bradley was, therefore, sent for again, who 
treated her after his own mode. While under the treat- 
ment of the Siamese physicians, the vomiting of black and 
yellow matter continued, accompanied by painful affec- 
tions in her breathing, etc. These attacks occurred seven 
or eight times a day. 

11* 



250 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

Since the return of Dr. Bradley to attend her majesty, 
up to the 16th of September, her majesty seemed to be a 
little better, as the vomiting of the black and yellow 
substance, supposed to be bile, became less frequent, and 
other bad symptoms being less than when she was under 
the treatment of the Siamese physicians ; but alas ! her 
majesty's weakness and refusal of sustenance yet pre- 
vailed on account of her continued vomiting. There 
was not a single day passed without severe vomiting, 
which obstinately refused to yield to any remedies. After 
the lapse of a few days, Dr. Bradley had not succeeded 
in making her vomiting less frequent, the intervals be- 
tween her attacks of vomiting now became less distant, 
and unfavorable symptoms appeared, and her face and 
body presented a yellow appearance. In consequence of 
this, she was again put under the care of official Siamese 
physicians ; but they refused to take her case in hand. 
Upon this a proclamation was issued, offering a reward 
of many peculs of money to any one who could restore 
her majesty to her former health. Since the time her 
majesty became worse imder the hands of Dr. Bradley, 
her pulse became very quick and violent, and on the 2'7th 
of September she became dehrious. On the same day a 
royal proclamation was issued to the people of the city, 
offering a reward of two peculs of money to anyone who 
could make her better. An old Siamese official physician 
then came to examine her majesty, and wished to try his 
skill, and was therefore permitted to see her. On seeing 
her majesty he misunderstood her complaint, and attrib- 
uted her disease to mismanagement during child-birth or 
time of confinement, because she did not lay near the fire. 
From his statements, it appeared that he would cure her 
majesty in a short time, and got the consent of her ma- 
jesty's relatives and friends, and even that of his majesty, 
to try his skill. But alas, two or three hours after drink- 



EOTAL SIAMESE LITERATURE. 251 

ing three or four spoonfuls of his aromatic medicines, her 
majesty became so delirious that she could not speak so 
correctly as before, and occasionally cried out with a loud 
noise, and became much agitated, and continually mov- 
ing to and fro. His majesty then immediately rejected 
the old ignorant and covetous physician, and again called 
Dr. Bradley, who attended her majesty till her death, of 
which she appeared to be soon a victim. The doctor 
restored her by homeopathic medicines, but his success 
was only partial, and, on the 1st day of October, her 
majesty's eyes became strangely fixed, and she remained 
silent, refusing medicines and nourishment. On this day 
it was observed that there was an abscess which must 
have occurred probably (early,) and had been broken by 
the violent agitations of her body during her illness ; pus 
and matter, mixed with blood, found an outlet at her 
umbilicus ; it continued to discharge freely and by de- 
grees for days. Her majesty, by means of some remedies 
and applications in various ways, was restored to con- 
sciousness, although she was manifestly failing in strength, 
until the 6th of October. During this interval his ma- 
jesty the king and her majesty's kindred brought many 
gifts of yellow cloths, etc., to her, and induced her to 
present them as her last offering to the priesthood, and 
to receive the sacred instructions for her last meditation 
from the high priests, according to Buddhistical tenets — 
in which her majesty placed her faith. Her majesty then 
offered these cloths, etc., to many hundreds of Buddhist 
priests, and received their instructions and benedictions, 
though laboring under painful attacks of vomiting, and 
which caused her daily to lose her strength. Alas, on the 
6th of October, there was indubitable evidence that the 
abscess was also discharging its contents (internally). 
After this for three days her majesty sunk rapidly, and 
breathed her last on the 10th of October, 1852, at six 



252 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

o'clock, P. M., greatly lamented, and bewailed by all the 
royal household. 

Her majesty's remains were bathed and adorned with 
golden ornaments used for the dead according to the 
royal custom, in the full style and dignity of a queen, and 
wrapped in many folds of white cloth. Her remains were 
then placed in the golden urn or vessel called Phra-Kate, 
with a queen's crown on her head, and then covered 
with the cover of the golden urn. On the same night 
her majesty's remains were removed from the queen's resi- 
dence to the " Tusita Maha Prasad," a great and richly 
gilded hall of the grand palace, and placed in the same 
apartment in which the royal remains of his late majesty 
laid during thirteen months, from April, 1851, to May, 
1852. 

Her late majesty's remains now lie there in state, sur- 
rounded with all the insignia of rank, until the burning 
takes place in about four or five months more, and will 
be attended with considerable ceremonies suitable to her 
late majesty's exalted rank. This event will perhaps take 
place about March or April proximo. Her most amiable 
and youthful majesty the late Somanass Queen Waddhana- 
wathy was the beloved and adopted royal daughter of his 
majesty Somdetch Phra, Nang Klau, C. Y. H., the late King 
of Siam, since her infancy. At the thirteenth year of her 
age she was dignified to the highest rank of royal daugh- 
ter, called Chau-fa, and became the queen consort of his 
present majesty Somdetch Phra Paramender Maha Mong- 
kut Phra Chau Klau Chau Yu Hud on the commence- 
ment of this present year, and lived happily with her 
much-esteemed and lawful royal husband, the King of 
Siam, for only seven months, from January to July, and 
from the 10th of August to the 10th of October, being 
sixty-two days and nights, her majesty was ill, making 
nine months and a few days that she lived as queen con- 



EOYAL SIAMESE LITERATTJKE. 253 

sort. Her majesty's death happening in her youth and 
amiableness, and after such great prosperity and happi- 
ness which she enjoyed but for a short time, was much 
lamented and bewailed by his majesty, by the people of 
the city, and by foreigners of tributary countries. After 
her majesty's death all the Siamese, Chinese and Ameri- 
can physicians concluded that there was great reason to 
beheve that the foundation of the disease which destroyed 
the valuable hfe of her majesty must have been laid some 
time previous to her espousal to his majesty, the present 
king, from her majesty's being uncommonly stout for a 
person of her age, and having suddenly become thin and 
emaciated, and being attacked at the same time with a 
severe fit of coughing ; but the symptoms of her late 
majesty's disease did not show themselves till the 25th 
of June, as has already been stated. As her late majesty 
was an orphan, and became the adopted daughter of the 
late king, by whom she was made to inherit the whole 
estates and retinues of her late royal parents and aunt, 
and being the only daughter, she has no half or full 
brothers and sisters, and has consequently no heirs. The 
whole of her property and large amount of money, to- 
gether with her annual income or private fortune, will be 
placed in the royal treasury till after the funeral cere- 
monies are concluded. 

His majesty, the present king, has concluded that a 
portion of her late majesty's great property and money 
will be expended to refit the sacred places and monas- 
teries belonging to her late royal father and aunt, and an- 
other portion will be expended in the construction of a 
sacred building within the new wall of this city, and will 
be called Somonapwihari. The remainder will be em- 
ployed in the royal treasure for the use of the pubhc. As 
there are many of her late majesty's acquaintances in 
almost every province of Siam and the adjacent coun- 



254 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

tries, and among them are even some persons of foreign 
countries, of China, Batavia, Maulmain, etc., who were 
or are the intimate friends and agents of his majesty, and 
became her friends for his majesty's sake, his majesty 
therefore commanded that an account of the illness and 
death of her late majesty be prepared in Siamese, to be 
issued by proclamation throughout the kingdom of Siam 
and adjacent countries ; and also to prepare an account 
of the same in the English language, to be printed and 
sent to all her English friends, so that they may know ac- 
curately about her. 

Printed in lithographic press at the royal printing of- 
fice, 21st December, 1852, which is the second year of 
the reign of his Siamese majesty Somdetch Phra Para- 
mender Maha Mongkut. 



XXI. 

AN UNCOMMON COMMMONER. 

Happening to be making some inquiries respecting the 
laws of Siam, Mr. Smith told me there was an imperfect 
copy of the laws printed in the Siamese. The written 
laws filled many volumes of the peculiar black slate pa- 
per books, and any one requiring a copy was necessarily 
compelled to employ a writer to make it, and, at the reg- 
ular charge, the cost was over one hundred dollars. 

A young Siamese conceived the idea of compiling the 
laws, and having them printed so that the whole code 
would cost but about five or six dollars, and thus, while 
benefiting his country, derive some pecuniary advantage 
for himself. He had completed the printing of one vol- 
ume and a half of the two, which was to compose the 
work, when the king became jealous of such knowledge 



AN ui^commo:n- common"er. 255 

being accessible to foreigners and seized the whole work 
severely censuring the enterprising young author and de- 
stroying his chance of reward. The present king, with 
better judgment and greater liberality, had restored the 
printed volumes, and by the sale of these the expense of 
the pubhcation had been in some degree met. 

I expressed the wish to make the acquaintance of a 
person of so much energy and foresight, and Mr. Smith 
called, on the evening of May the 9th, to take me to his 
house. We found him at an out-ofthe-way place, a little 
removed from the back of the river. Having been ap- 
prised of our coming he received us very graciously, and 
conducted us to an upper room of his house, where tea 
and cakes were placed upon the table. To appreciate 
this man, the fact must be considered that the only lan- 
guage he understood was his Siamese, and in that lan- 
guage there are no works upon any of the sciences. In 
the commencement of our conversation, I paid him the 
little compliment of saying I had called on him in con- 
sequence of my respect for his enterprise in compiKng 
laws, and for the acquirements I understood he had 
made. He said he had been working like a blind man 
with great difficulty, and that all he knew he owed to 
the missionaries ; that he had been taunted by his coun- 
trymen with wishing to be a Christian, and charged with 
laboring for knowledge of no use to him ; but when they 
found it was of some use, they were willing to avail them- 
selves of it, and to learn of him to do the same things. 
Upon one occasion the king, in a puWic audience, handed 
him some percussion caps and asked him to make some. 
He did so, and this was a convincing proof of the utihty 
of his studies. Several of his children were sitting around 
the table— boys from six to fifteen years of age. I re- 
marked to him that having had so much difficulty him- 
self, I supposed he would have his children taught En- 



256 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

glish, in which were so many books upon all knowledge, 
to be had at little cost. He said he was anxious to do so 
if it were possible, and thought they ought to send some of 
their young men to the United States to be educated ; 
he had repeatedly spoken to the king about it, and some- 
times he seemed to regard the proposition favorably, but 
nothing had been done. His countrymen were not dis- 
posed to receive his suggestions favorably, because they 
thought he assumed upon the little knowledge he had. 
The Siamese were generally so ignorant themselves, they 
did not understand the advantage of knowledge for their 
children. I intimated that therefore it was the more in- 
cumbent upon him, who knew better, to give his children 
every possible advantage. Whilst he admitted this, he re- 
marked there was little inducement to any to improve them- 
selves, where there were no inducements to exercise their 
thoughts and their talents. He thought the true way 
to make the nation would be to draw forth the talent 
of the common people, and elevate those who showed 
any, and this they might learn from their own history. 
When the kingdom had been conquered by the Burmans 
and was liberated by the half Chinese who became king, 
he consulted with all persons who had ability, and found 
his best advisers among the common people, and these he 
promoted to the stations for which their talents fitted them, 
and thus accomplished the independence of his country. 

He has arranged himself quite a laboratory and makes 
many chemicals — distils alcohol — nitric acid. I happened 
to complain of the annoyance of my lucifer matches, that 
in this damp weather scarce one would light. 

" If they were prepared from the * chloras potassa' you 
would not have so much trouble," was his reply. 

He then gave me a Chinese tinder-box, which he re- 
marked was rude and simple, but one of the best modes 
of procuring a light. A small roll of Chinese paper, 



AN UNCOMMON COMMONEE. 257 

charred at one end, and the end of it passed into a bam- 
boo tube. The charred end protruded from the bamboo- 
tube is lighted by flint and steel and extinguished by be- 
ing drawn back into the tube. The advantage it has, in 
common with all similar contrivances, over the match, is 
that it is readily lighted in the open air, and the advan- 
tage over similar methods is, that a puff of breath upon 
the ignited end lights it into a blaze. He also showed 
me a means, in common use, of getting a light by atmos- 
pheric compression — the piston working in a small tube of 
buffalo horn. He spoke of the various modes of procur- 
ing fire, in use among the savage nations, and said the 
double-convex lens, or sun-glass, was of comparative re- 
cent date in Siam. About the time of its introduction, 
a military officer was sent to conquer some jungle tribes, 
and took a sun-glass with him. He induced these people to 
believe that by the favor of celestial beings he could draw 
fire from heaven at will, and obtained such an ascendency 
over them, that he used their support to revolt against 
the kingdom and make himself independent, being after- 
wards conquered with much difficulty. 

He alluded to the proneness of ignorant people to be im- 
posed upon by such acts, and said there was a prevalent con- 
viction among their own people that a man might become 
invincible, and be impregnable against the power of knives 
or bullets, neither of which could wound him. He first 
began to doubt the truth of this when he " w^as of the 
age of that boy," pointing to a son of twelve years, and 
yet he was puzzled by the doubt, for every one else be- 
lieved it. He commenced by inquiring w^ho had ever 
"seen such a man, and could hear of none who had done 
so. He determined to study the subject fully, and either 
satisfy himself of its falsity or acquire the art. He ap- 
phed himself to it, even after he entered the priesthood 
and until his twenty-fifth year, only becoming more and 



258 • SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

more convinced that the belief had no other foundation 
than ignorance and imposture. He had himself seen a 
man strike his arm repeatedly with a sharp razor without 
wounding the skin, but this he knew was a mere trick. 

From his allusion to his having been in the priesthood, 
I hoped to obtain from him some information respecting 
the organization and internal management of this body ; 
but he seemed to misunderstand me, and fear that I 
wished to lead him into some theological discussion which 
he was desirous of avoiding. He hastily replied that he 
was only in the priesthood the three months required by 
law ; that he thought there were no more than nominal 
differences between their religion and ours, especially if 
their religion were purified, but that it was corrupted by 
the notions and usages of several ignorant natives ; still, it 
and the Catholic religion were nearly identical — there was 
no difference worth talking about. 

I merely asked how many priests there were. 

" Ten thousand ; an army we are compelled to sup- 
port in idleness." 

I was satisfied my friend had reached the true signifi- 
cance and value of Buddhism, and was timid lest his opin- 
ions should be discovered. 

Wishing to make him some little useful present, I 
thought of a small and simply-constructed electro-galvanic 
apparatus in my posaession. I inquired if he had paid any 
attention to the subject. " Oh, yes, much. I have made 
many batteries myself, and punish my servants by galvan- 
izing them." Still hoping that mine might be a little 
better finished than those of his own hands, I asked to 
see one of his. He had none by him but the first he had 
ever made. This was brought in, and was so far superior 
to mine in power and finish, being inclosed in a handsome 
case, that I saw I could do nothing for him in this way. 

His work-shop was in a lower room, about twenty feet 



AN UNCOMMON COMMONER. 259 

long. The whole of one side was occupied by a large 
and well-finished turning lathe which he had built him- 
self. Along the wall, neatly arranged, was a variety of 
implements and mechanic's tools, and around lay several 
heavy solid brass wheels, some in the roughness of a fresh 
casting and some smoothly turned. He was then con- 
structing in an outer shed a much larger lathe, and also a 
small steam engine to turn it. In the shed where he was 
putting up the frame of his large lathe there lay a pile 
of ship's blocks. These he was making for the use of the 
king. 

I again alluded to the extent of his acquirements un- 
der such difficult circumstances. He replied that he owed 
it all to the missionaries, who were in all respects the best 
men he had ever met. When they were first expected 
there was a great apprehension among the Siamese lest 
they should be arrogant, annoying and troublesome, but 
he thought much upon the subject, and one remarkable 
fact impressed itself upon his mind. " I said," he con- 
tinued, " all the people I know of have kings to rule over 
them except this people, and they are all equal and agree 
among themselves who shall be their head ; and although 
they are all equal, we hear of no wars and dissensions 
among them. Therefore, I said, they must be a people 
of greater virtues and better hearts than those people who 
have to be kept in order by monarchs. He had known 
the missionaries intimately from their first coming, and 
their character and behavior had confirmed the judgment 
he had formed before he knew them, and the manners of 
Americans generally were more amiable than those of 
Europeans." 

I replied that he had hit upon the true principle ; that 
being all equal, no man had the right of talking arrogantly 
to another ; that the President used the same courtesy 
to one of his fellow-citizens that he would to a member 



260 ' SIAM AND THE SIAMESE. 

of his own family, and hence courteous deportment be- 
came a national characteristic, and was manifested in our 
association with other people ; that we knew a republic 
could only exist with an intelligent and virtuous people, 
and therefore we endeavored to impart those qualities to 
our people by free schools all over the country, giving 
every one an education at no, or but little, cost. 

This man had acquired by conversation with the mis- 
sionaries all his scientific knowledge. His plan was to 
get them to read to him from English books what related 
to any matter he was studying, or what illustrated any 
engraving which attracted his attention. He would im- 
mediately make some practical application of his knowl- 
edge, and thus he learned from them what, practically, 
they did not know themselves. 

I left him about ten o'clock. He thanked me for my 
visit, and promised soon to return it. 



F AN K W E 1. 



III. 

IN CHINA 



IN CHINA. 

XXII. 

HONa KONQ. 

On Saturday, May 31st, the " Siamese Seat of N'aval 
Force" took the whole of our party away from Bangkok. 
We reached Packnam at night, where the governor had # 
made arrangements for our accommodation until morning. 

About eight o'clock the next morning, we reached 
the San Jacinto, after seven weeks' absence, and imme- 
diately got under way for Hong Kong, where awaited us 
our letters of eight months' accumulation, and all the 
incidents of joy or soitow which, in a changing world, 
might in that time await our arrival. There was, also, the 
hope of Hberty for our ship-sick, ship-imprisoned crew, 
nearly a year in this worse than penitentiary imprison- 
ment, without their feet touching mother-earth. 

When our legislators produced the act to " provide a 
more efficient discipline for the Navy," in their simpli- 
city they assumed some natural human rights to exist on 
board a man-of-war, for they say : " Section 3. And be it 
further enacted, That it shall be the duty of commanders 
of any vessels in the ISTavy, in granting temporary leave 
of absence and liberty on shore, to exercise carefully a 
discrimination in favor of the faithful and obedient ;" and 



264 • INCHINA. 

among the legal penalties is, " deprivation of liberty on 
shore on foreign stations." They should first have or- 
dered that the men should not, without great and urgent 
cause, or as a penalty, be deprived of the liberty of the 
shore ; or some Secretary of the I^avy should make such 
an acknowledgment of right a regulation of the Depart- 
ment. The usage is to keep the men on board ships for 
months, whereas ofiicers, and officers' servants, go ashore 
daily in every port. This tantalizing and provoking con- 
trast nurses and feeds the fever of the accumulated excita- 
bility of confinement to a water-bound prison ; and then, 
when they are permitted to go ashore, it is in large gangs, 
for a twenty-four hours' debauch — the naval idea being 
that the nature of the sailor is to have this debauch, and, 
in ignorance of man-nature, overlooking the fact that the 
men have been brought into a morbid condition by the 
unnatural management of them. 

The first touch of the foot to the shore, after such an 
estrangement, is an intoxication. I have experienced it 
myself after a long sea voyage ; then to this excitement 
is added that of numbers, and the incitement to outrage 
which arises from the physical power of numbers turned 
loose for indulgence in a w^eak community. A great lever 
of punishment is lost, by the fact that no rights or indul- 
gence are secured the good, and of which the bad may be 
deprived. 

Instead of this unnatural management of the crew, sup- 
pose, when in port, the men were — such as behaved them- 
selves — permitted to go ashore, daily, in small numbers, 
as they could be spared from their duties. The frequency 
of visiting the shore would diminish the wildness of ex- 
citement, the small numbers w^ould lessen the incentives 
to turbulence, a lever of correction w^ould be constantly 
on hand, and the bad would be separated from the good. 

Some sensible commanders have had the good sense to 



HONG KONG. 265 

try this reasonable system, and the results are as favor- 
able as might have been expected. 

Owing to the defect in our engine, and some delay in 
repairing it, we did not arrive in Hong Kong until the 
11th of June, 1856 — ^within a few days of eight months 
since leaving New York. 

From the lonely waters and level flats of the Gulf of 
Siam, to the green islands, rugged mountains, and throng- 
ing vessels of the harbor of Hong Kong, is a transition 
of marked contrast. 

Our first contact with Chinese qualities introduced us 
to their indomitable energy, perseverance, and industry. 
An enterprising Chinese pilot had picked us up far out at 
sea, and another had been for a month steadily on the 
look-out for us ; and, as we ran up to our anchorage, we 
encountered a Chinese invasion. A fleet of boats, pro- 
pelled by mat sails, by sculls and oars, bore down upon 
us. The principal object of competition was to get the 
oflice of comprador — the privilege of supplying the vari- 
ous messes, and of being the ship's bum-boat ; that is, 
trading with the men daring certain fixed hours. This is 
a very profitable position, and those who engage in it get 
rich. Then, there were tailors, painters, shoemakers, 
peddlers, washermen and washerwomen, besides aspirants 
for the honorable appointment of " fast boat" — the boat 
which, being the home and dwelling-place of the pro- 
prietor and his family, wives and children, is employed, 
instead of the ship's boats, to take us to and from the 
shore. 

On came the competing fleet, regardless, apparently, 
of being run down by our heavy steamer. We were not 
then familiar with the great skill with which these boats 
are managed — ^being suddenly turned and changing their 
course just as they appear to be rushing upon an object. 
Stimulated by the prize before them, and confident of 

12 



266 * IXCHINA. 

their skill, they j^aid no attention to the orders to warn 
them off, if, indeed, these could be heard above the 
clamor and the screeching of their own tin-toned throats. 
Some of the greater tacticians had small American ensigns 
flying, and one bold diplomatist, determined to command 
success by assuming it, flew from his mast-head a white 
flag, painted in large characters — 

B U M-B OAT. 

U. S. STEAMEE 
SAN JACINTO. 

Up alongside the ship they dashed, and, despite their 
skill, not without some damage to them, crashing bam- 
boo spars. Men and women clambered up the ship's sides, 
and thrust forth bundles of certificates from their former 
patrons in our service, at the same time assuring us that 
he or she was N"o. 1 in their respective vocations. 

A great and absorbing interest drew us for the time 
fi-om these novel sights. Owing to the courtesy of the 
house of De Silver & Co., the accumulated letters of an 
interval of eight months' absence from home were sent on 
board to us by the time we had anchored, and the hopes, 
the fears, and the anxieties of all this time were to be con- 
firmed or dispelled. 

The hurry and bustle of a fresh arrival, the reception 
of visitors, and the firing of salutes having subsided, in a 
day or two we are in a state to make a more detailed ex- 
amination of this fruit of English civilization which had 
sprung up in what, twelve years ago, was a den of Chinese 
pirates and a collection of miserable fishing huts. 

The city of Victoria, in the island of Hong Kong, 
may be said to extend from Happy Valley on the ex- 
treme east to West Point on the extreme west, a wind- 
ing road of about three miles in length, the Queen's road, 
skirting the bay and twisting along the foot of the moun- 
tains washed by the waters of the bay. The mass of the 



HONG KONG. 267 

city lies within the central two miles of this space, strag- 
gling and adventurous settlements linking in the spaces 
beyond. Indeed, nearly a mile beyond the eastern point 
we have named, alone and separated from the rest of the 
city, are the extensive buildings of the large commercial 
firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co., which seems to be some- 
what an independent though allied sovereignty of Hong 
Kong — firing its morning and evening gun, keeping its 
own police force, and running an individual line of steam- 
ers to the East Indies. After the city begins to leave the 
Queen's road with any lateral aspirations, there is nothing 
left for it but to climb up the mountain-side, and so it 
does, with sharp, angular features standing out with a 
general complexion of white and yellow ochre on two or 
three dark-green, granite -knobbed mountain spurs, along 
which wind terraced roads fringed with shrubbery and 
gardens. High up on these elevations stand the preten- 
tious palaces of the successful merchants, or those which, 
built upon a hopeful future, have passed into the hands 
of those who have followed " one more unfortunate." 

Also standing out to catch the breezes of the hill-top, 
with the union jack flying in its front, is the yellow- 
washed castle of the Governor, the residence of the Bishop 
of Victoria, and the cathedral, with fortifications and mil- 
itary quarters capping off nature's granite summits with 
the same material molded by the lines of architecture 
and masonry. Over all, from an elevation of eighteen 
hundred feet, looks down Victoria's Peak, over city and 
bay, ampan, lorcha and junk, the merchantmen of many 
nations soon to be lying in the stagnation of war and 
blockade. 

Under English fortresses and men-of-war we are toler- 
ably safe. But the opposite or Kowloon shore of the bay, 
inviting as it looks, only two miles away, is at all times 
pretty certain death to any wandering Fankwei. Hostility 



^bO IN CHINA. 

to the barbarian is increased by his proximity, as some 
unfortunate Enghshmen have recently experienced. 

A morning's stroll along the length of the Queen's 
road will present us with much of interest, and show us 
a variety of races and some of their habits. We will 
begin again at the Happy Valley, and to get there, we 
start before the sun is up, and find ourselves rapidly 
passed by early-rising, fast-walking foreign residents, who 
are doing up their daily amount of out-door exercise as 
energetically as possible, making this valley their general 
terminus. It is a little beauty of a basin of prairie, about 
a mile in circuit, shut in by the precipitous hills, through 
one of which our road is cut — a beautiful and inviting- 
looking spot to look at, but deadly to dwell in. Most ol 
it is filled by the circuit of the race-course, and around it 
are placed the various cemeteries. By the time we are 
ready to return the sun is gilding the hill-tops, ^and the 
laboring life of Hong Kong is astir. As w^e reenter the 
suburbs of the city, the mechanics are busily at work in 
their open shops. The bamboo chair-maker and the rat- 
tan shaving mattrass-maker are topographical trades, but 
the blacksmiths, tinmen and braziers are numerous, and 
the barbers are everywhere, in shops and in the streets, 
shaving heads, plaiting queues, shampooing backs, clean- 
ing out ears and eyes. Then we have a range of market- 
shops ; the pork-butcher is dealing out his slender cutlets, 
the fruiterer his pines, banannas, oranges, and huge pomel- 
ons. Next to this golden-colored merchandise, are masses 
of green salad, cabbages, peas, beans, with radishes and 
tomatoes. There are dried fish and fresh, with bunches 
of dried ducks, split open, pressed flat, as if rolled be- 
tween heavy rollers, and dried with transparent thinness. 

The laboring coolies, with their burden-sticks across 
their shoulders, fill the streets, all dressed with much 
uniformity in broad-brimmed, sharp-peaked hats, made of 



HONG KONG. 269 

palm-leaves, blue cotton shirts, or frocks, coming to their 
hips, trowsers of the same reaching halfway down the leg, 
and either bare or straw sandal-shod feet. The women 
wear precisely the same costume, except that the outer 
frock hangs lower, and the trowsers reach the ankle. 
Even among the lower classes, a few small-footed women 
are seen tottering along like a child on short stilts, but 
most of them are either barefoot or wear a shoe with a 
sole two inches thick, shaped like a rocker skate ; moth- 
ers are tottering along with children lashed to their backs 
by a square cloth, of which the prevailing fashion is crim- 
son. 

At a later hour, when we would meet the better classes 
of Chinese, another style of costume varies the streets. 
Black satin or embossed velvet shoes with thick white 
soles, white leggings reaching to the knees, and meeting 
blue silk breeches which are fastened by silk garters, or 
the silk breeches, may descend the leg, fitting it tightly 
and being fastened at the ankles with ribbons. The out- 
side garment is either a figured silk or a woolen cape, or 
a long robe either fight and flowing, or quilted and trim- 
med with rich furs, according to the season. In fact, al- 
though there is a general* style of costume, it admits as 
much variety almost in fashion and material as is seen on 
Broadway. The cap of these gentry is a close-fitting 
skull cap made of eight sections, with a crimson knot on 
the top. Eain or shine, cold or warm, in the day time, 
cloudy or clear, every Chinaman has an umbrella, and at 
night a lantern. 

By the time we have passed through the Chinese sub- 
urbs, and reached the large and capacious buildings of 
the European settlement we find we are bounded on all 
sides by the British government. First we come to a 
guard-house, and then a long range of granite buildings, 
called the war department ; a little further, on the op- 



270 ' IN CHINA. 

posite side, the military hospital, a large central building 
with a fountain amid the shrubbery of the front yard, and 
two wings. Then on and on, other public buildings — a 
navy yard. Then again, on both sides of the street, long 
ranges of military quarters with shady walks under rows 
of trees in their front, and sentries posted at the gate. 
Here we fall in with specimens of the military guardians 
of the empire. European soldiers in the tight-fitting 
crimson jackets, or dark colored, curly-haired Sepoys, 
with loose white robes, flowing trowsers and crimson tur- 
bans ; or the same fellows dressed in tight-fitting, Euro- 
pean military dress, looking like flexible black snakes 
stifiened in tin jackets. 

Having passed these military establishments, we come 
upon another small prairie expanse, the parade ground, 
opening to the bay on one side, and overlooked at the 
other by the Episcopal cathedral perched upon an emi- 
nence. 

A row of trees on each side of the road shades our 
walk across this space, and at later hour of the day there 
would be much to keep us loitering along this thorough- 
fare. In the shade of these trees is the place of business 
of respectably dressed and sage looking old Chinamen — 
conjurors, physicians and magicians. 

One of the " Faculty" has a large white cloth spread 
out, upon which is painted many human figures, and upon 
it the exact seat, or morbid efiects of every disgusting 
disease which the doctor professes to remedy. This is an 
energetic looking individual who urges his talents upon 
the public notice. Another more dignified and grave 
looking person sits behind his table, spread with parcels 
of medicines, neatly spread plasters, and, absorbed in the 
study of a book, quietly awaits the calls of his patients. 
More numerous than these quack doctors, are the conju- 
rors. Several of them have little cashes containing beau- 



HONG KONG. 271 

tiful and well-taugTit Java sparrows, and a box in which 
a variety of cards are packed on their edges. Any card 
may be selected from the pack, and being marked and re- 
tm-ned to it, the sparrow, at the bid of his master, hops 
over the pack, plunges his beak into it, and draws forth 
the identical card which had been marked. 

One shrewd, cunning-looking, sharp featured individual 
was very importunate. He had the countenance and ex- 
pression of the keenest Yankee, crossed with the trickiest 
Chinaman. He stood in front of a susj^ended chart, on 
which were painted two busts, mapped off, and named or 
numbered as the organs of a phrenological bust. In his 
hand he held a small looking-glass, directed toward the 
passing crowd, to which he seemed to be addressmg a 
constantly flowing lecture. Many passed him by with- 
out any notice, some halted for a moment, laughed, and 
passed on, but some stood fixed in gaping wonderment ; 
to these he held up the small mirror, and, with rapid 
speech and moving fingers, pointed at various regions of 
the head and face, the subject, always with an anxious 
countenance, seeming to come more and more under the 
influence of the operator — whether medical or magical, I 
could not guess. 

Having crossed this lively region, we are now amid the 
showy houses of business of the foreign merchants, the 
wholesale opium smugglers, and also the shops of the re- 
tailers. These, with the better class of Chinese lacquer, 
silk and ivory shops, extend along the Queen's road for 
half a mile, when the road, both topographically and 
morally, makes a descent into Tae-ping-shan, the dense 
Chinese settlement proper, where, amid native trades, 
pirates and robbers, painted courtesans, opium and tea 
shops, renegade foreigners keeping sailor boarding-houses 
and drinking shops, purvey to the depraved appetites of 
their countrymen. Such is Hong Kong from the begia- 



272 . IN CHINA. 

ning to the end of its great thoroughfare, the Queen's 
road. During the busy hours of the day it is thronged 
with pedestrians, native and foreign ; sedan chairs, close 
and open ; traveling cook-shops, and peddlers of cakes, 
c/^nfectioneries, oranges and olives. All these are regularly 
licensed and numbered, paying tribute undoubtedly to 
the colonial government. Cobblers of old shoes, workers 
in leather, repairers of broken china, with their imple- 
ments of trade, are among the morning occupations of 
the street; while bands of labor coohes are carrying 
bales and heavy burdens from point to point. Among 
the throng are black, hyena-looking policemen, Indians 
in European clothes, with numbers embroidered on their 
collars, and these omit no opportunity of asserting their 
13roud position as British subjects, by kicking over a 
peddling Chinaman's stock in trade, scattering his fruit, 
nuts and baskets in the street, lashing him with the short 
thick whip he carries under his arm, or beating him, as I 
have seen, with the flat of his sword. 

Such is a glance at the capital of the island over which 
is ruler and governor Dr. Sir John Bowring, the philol- 
ogist and philanthropist — the poet and philosopher — the 
statesman and chartist — an apparently worthy gentle- 
man, whose literary reputation is far greater than that of 
his position of Governor of Hong Kong. According to 
the colonial press, he does not possess one good quality or 
a solitary virtue. Sir John, it has been said, has somewhat 
humorously said he was the great supporter of the colo- 
nial press, as but for abuse of him, the writers would have 
no material for their pens to work upon. 

It seems so essential a condition of a Hong Kong gov- 
ernor's position to be abused, that, as a thing of course it 
resolves itself into a mere form of speech, and is diluted 
into a Pickwickian sense. After all, the governor, who has 
earned a world-wide reputation as a man of letters, may 



CANTON, THE CITY OF RAMS. 273 

be as able as those of wbom the world has never heard, 
and morally may be no worse than the commercial commu- 
nity of which the leading business is opium smuggling, 
and the daily excitement, gambling upon its price. 



XXIII. 

CANTON, THK CITY OF RAMS. 

On this 10th day of July the first overland mail since 
our arrival left in the steamer for the Red Sea. We had 
all privately and officially been working np to this point 
The consul general for Japan had finished his dispatches, 
and they, with the Siamese treaty, were in the hands of 
Dr. Bradley, the bearer of the treaty for ratification, who 
went home by the mail. 

The next morning, bright and early, we were off for 
Japan ; that is, we were to be. Steam was got up and 
the anchor weighed. Around went the propeller, when 
such a blow, such a shock, struck the San Jacinto in the 
stern, as made every timber in her quiver ; and every- 
body — those on duty and those awoke from their morning 
slumbers — began to wonder what was the matter. Slowly 
turned the propeller — thump — blow — shock — quiver. A 
five hundred horse power engine was applying the weight 
of fourteen thousand pounds of metal to some part of the 
ship not intended for such a state of things. Cyclopean 
poundings. Something was wrong, certainly. Away 
went the anchor again, a mile or so from where we had 
picked it np. The engineers examined the propeller, and 
came to the conclusion that the keys which kept the 
blades in place had been destroyed, and the blades con- 
sequently had fallen back so as to strike the stern rud- 
der post. But before any thing could be definitely as- 

12* 



274 • IN CH IN A. 

certained, and certainly, before any thing could be done, 
the ship must go into dock. The dock was at Wharapoa, 
some eighty miles up the Canton river, and the San Ja- 
cinto, now entirely helpless, could not get to Whampoa 
herself, but must be hnmiliatingly towed there ; and as 
she must be lightened to sixteen feet to enter the dock, 
all the coal, water and provisions with which she w^as filled 
up for her cruise must now come out, also her guns, and 
perhaps her masts. 

On Saturday, the 13th of July, two steamers took us 
in tow, and by eight in the morning we were on our way 
to Whampoa. As we passed by the British frigate Nan- 
kin her band struck up " Hail Columbia," but as we were 
not moving proudly by our own forces, but humbly drag- 
ging in the wake of two steamboats, although intended 
as a compliment, it felt like a satire. 

Our way up the river presented us with the interest of 
picturesque scenery. The waters, reddish yellow in color, 
were rolling, flowing around and between rocky islands, 
some of them clothed in green. The banks were a suc- 
cession of lofty mountain hills, ^ath intervening valleys 
and Chinese villages. It is most extraordinary that any 
one of observation should have spoken of these river bor- 
ders as uninteresting or as thinly peopled. Every plain 
and cove has its populous town or village, and wherever 
the soil, washed from the hill-sides, has accumulated in 
masses large enough to support life, there life has planted 
itself And in addition to this population supported on 
the shore, much of that which wins existence, honestly or 
dishonestly, from the water, makes its home along the 
banks of these waters. It is true that owing to the 
breadth of the stream, the little elevation of the dwellings, 
and the concealed coves and nooks in which they are nes- 
tled, but little of the population is seen by the traveler 
on the river. 



CANTON, THE CITY OF EAMS. 275 

Some of these green hill-sides were sprinkled over with 
large-sized, white semicircles. These were Chinese graves. 
They are constructed much like a large, old-fashioned, 
oval-backed sleigh, high behind a,nd low in front. They 
are built with two semicircles, or horse-shoe shaped in- 
closures of masonry, one within another. The outer is 
built up two or three feet from the ground at the back 
part, and has a diameter of ten or twelve feet. 

As we approached the Bogue, it could be recognized in 
the distance by the long lines of white walls running from 
the water-side to the hill-tops, and inclosing the forts built 
to defend the passage. These forts are extensive, but 
are now very much dilapidated. So narrow is the passage 
at the Bogue, and so favorably placed on the high lands 
overlooking it, that it might be made impregnable. After 
passing the Bogue, the hills recede, and low, flat rice or 
paddy fields, with an embankment or levee shutting out 
the waters, border the stream. Obhged to anchor at 
night, it was not until the following morning we found 
ourselves among the shipping of the miserable, marsh- 
surrounded, pestilential anchorage of Whampoa ; and thus 
terminated our first effort to reach Japan. 

Whampoa is a curious, but desolate-looking place — a 
Chinese town on shore, and a foreign one upon the water. 
I noticed a neat-looking boat in the river built over with 
a house, and having green Venetian blinds. That was 
the doctor's house and office. A similar boat, housed 
over, the windows Gothic, with other church-hke adorn- 
ments, was the church ; and the boat from which I looked 
upon these things was itself a floating grocery and ship- 
chandler's store. The nature of the shore may be imag- 
ined where the water is a more agreeable abiding-place ; 
but the insurance officers have arithmetically calculated 
the chances of having your throat cut and your property 
destroyed on shore or afloat, and have reached the money- 



276 • IN CHINA. 

measured conclusion that on shore they will not make in- 
surance, on the river they will. 

On Monday afternoon the steamer Willamette came 
along, on her way from Hong Kong to Canton, and Com- 
modore Armstrong, his secretary and I took passage in 
her. As we approached the city we ran among lines of 
the most extraordinary-looking boats, armed junks, with 
all sorts of fantastic-looking cannon jutting out of their 
sterns, their sides and their bows. There were many very 
long, roofed-over boats, with rolls of black varnished mat- 
ting laid along their roofs. These were canal boats bring- 
ing produce along the vast canals of the empire from the 
great interior. Their sails lay neatly protected beneath 
the rolls of black matting. 

Almost hidden by this massing of boats — some belong- 
ing to the spot, and to the local river population, others 
strangers from the distant provinces — lies, on the Chu- 
kiaug or Pearl river, the old " City of Rams," Kwang- 
tung — Canton — associated, in the minds of antipodal 
merchants and ladies, with clean matting, aromatic tea, 
and bright silks; in those of juvenile patriots with fire- 
crackers, fourths of July and Christmas. So globe-famed 
a city makes no show from the deck of the Willamette. 
Its low, tiled roof houses are just seen over the boat 
city in its front ; but there it lies, within its seven miles 
of wall, with its million of population, and its age-accumu- 
lated horrors, vice and corruption, plethoric, and full — fat- 
tened and enfeebled by oriental luxury, facilitated, not 
controlled, by a material religion, and aided by art enough 
to concentrate without refining. 

Travelers in the United States are constantly annoyed 
by the ferocious importunity and deafening cries with 
which hackmen are permitted to assail them at the rail- 
road depots. All this is scarcely equal to the solicitations 
of the Tanka girls of China. These girls do all the boat- 



CANTON, THE CITY OF EAMS. 277 

ing on the river — such as carrying passengers anct mes- 
sages between the shipping and the shore. Their boats, 
roofed over with mattiog, are exceedingly neat, every 
thing being scrupulously clean, and the smallest thing 
having its proper place. Order and system are especially 
necessary to this neatness, as the boat is the permanent 
dwelling of its three or four inmates — their kitchen, 
dining-room and bed-chamber. The women wear loose 
Chinese trowsers and short frock of dark blue pongee silk, 
with heavy ear-rings, bracelets, and anklets of a pearl-col- 
ored stone,* or of silver. The young ones are, many of 
them, quite good looking, with cheerful faces, framed in a 
bright-colored kerchief thrown over the head, and fastened 
under the chin, and in the smiling, merry animation with 
which they urge you to employ their boats, many of them 
display beautifully regular and white teeth. Their feet 
are bare. These boats rushed and crowded upon our 
steamer, as we came to the anchorage, in the most reck- 
less manner, and the captain told me they are frequently 
upset, and their inmates drowned. 

We had anchored immediately in front of the Hongs, 
or Factories — that little spot, of all Canton, in which are 
shut up all the foreign residents. Its whole extent is 
about the size of two ordinary city blocks, two hundred 
and fifty yards in length. The front, immediately along 
the river, is laid out into walks, planted with shrubbery. 
In the middle of this park, or garden, stood the church, 
and on one corner, immediately on the river, the club- 
house, bilhard-rooms, and boat-shed. 

The houses and places of business of the foreign resi- 
dents front on this park, or ranging back on narrow ave- 
nues running to the wall, which shuts them in from the 
Chinese streets. There are, however, gates at the end of 
these streets opening to the Chinese city. In the im- 
* Jade-stone, very costly when the real stone. 



278 ' IN CHINA. 

mediate \'icinity of these Hongs are two short streets — 
" Old China" and "New China" street — in which most 
of the business and shopping of foreigners are done, and 
these streets are the most they see of Canton. The 
whole extent of both is not over three city squares, but in 
that space, and in the smalls shops, scarcely more than 
boxes, which make its boundaries, what tempting wonders 
greet the eyes of the newly arrived foreigner — all the elab- 
orate carvings and ingenious workings of ivory, pearl, 
tortoise shell, and sandal wood, carefully wrought ebony 
cabinets and tables, curious bronzes, bright painted por- 
celain, jetty lacquer-ware out-glittering in bright black- 
ness its gilded decorations ; work-boxes and tables, chess- 
tables, desks, book-cases, tea-poys. There are certain 
gloomy little shops, in which the passer-by sees scarcely 
any thing to attract his attention. The brick floor and 
every corner, as in all the shops, is particularly neat. 
A few high camphor-wood chests are ranged along the 
sides ; behind a small pohshed counter are a few shelves, 
and these are generally concealed by long shutters of 
black varnished boards. One or two old respectable 
looking Chinamen, as neat as their shops, dressed in white 
silk or grass cloth, are sitting quiet, as though they had 
nothing, and wished for nothing, to do, and yet their 
shops are full of riches and temptations — embroidered 
shawls and silks. Upon inquiring for these articles, the 
chests are opened, or a board or two is taken down from 
before the shelves, and rolls of elegant silks are unrolled 
for your admiration ; or handsome lacquered and gilded 
boxes are opened, in each of which is an embroidered crape 
shawl ; any number of these will be taken out, held up 
for your inspection, or tossed into intricate and confused 
folds ; and when your curiosity is satisfied, all will be as 
neatly folded and replaced as though they had never 
been disturbed. You may leave the shop, as most 



CANTOiT, THE CITY OF EAMS. 2*79 

of US do, without buying a thing, there will not be the 
least display of annoyance or vexation, and you will be 
" chin chinned" out with as much courtesy of manner as 
though you had been a profitable purchaser ; and yet these 
same men are accustomed to fill orders for silks and 
shawls of from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars. 

Canton streets are the narrowest possible lanes. The 
crowd passes in single file in opposite currents, and the 
foot passenger hears ever behind him loud roaring cries 
from coolies bearing sedan chairs, or heavy burdens de- 
pending from poles, supported at either end upon a man's 
shoulders. The street is not wide enough to permit these 
chairs and loads to pass without the foot passengers 
giving way, and as the coolies so laden proceed at a very 
rapid walk — almost a dog-trot — unless their cry is heeded, 
and way made for them, the force of the burden will clear 
its own way at the cost of all resisting objects and persons. 

These narrow and crowded streets have a gay and ani- 
mated appearance. The shop-signs, about a foot wide by 
five or six in length, are suspended vertically beside the 
doors. They are of bright vermillion or jet black colors, 
finely varnished, and lettered in gold, and presenting, in 
the long vista of these narrow alleys, a very gay appear- 
ance. The shops themselves are perfect cabinets, especially 
those of the apothecaries and perfumers, the bottles and 
jars being gayly ornamented, so as to give a harmonious 
effect to the whole arrangement. The hat stores, with 
their elegant and plumed mandarin hats, are also very 
striking. The same neatness and order prevail in every 
shop. Every parcel, bundle, roll, etc., has its own shelf 
and niche in which it is deposited when not wanted for use. 

The mcJSt fascinating street, however, to the stranger, is 
that whose character is well indicated by its name, " Curi- 
osity street." This is slightly wider than the streets gen- 
erally, and shows to good effect its bright lines of up and 



280 ' IN CHINA. 

down signs. The stores on this street aie museums, being 
filled with carved ebony furniture, tables of curious 
marbles, inlaid work, antique porcelain, fantastic bronzes, 
bijouterie cut from various stones, metallic mirrors reflect- 
ing from the polished front surface certain figures molded 
on the back, and many other rare and curious articles. 

Convenient divisions of the streets, near the intersec- 
tions of others, are assigned for marketing purposes. 
There are no market-houses, but the supplies are set out 
on each side of the street, and all in the neatest and most 
inviting manner ; the meats and plucked poultry are clean 
and smooth, the latter very white ; the vegetables look 
fresh, and the crabs are moving in a lively manner under 
fine streams of water, which also play over the fish laid 
on inclined planes. The narrowness of the streets of 
Canton at first appears to be in bad judgment, and would 
not seem to be favorable to cleanliness ; but the protec- 
tion which is secured from the burning sun, and the 
chimney-like drafts created in these narrow avenues, are 
great advantages. Sewers pass under the streets, which 
are washed out by the tides of the Canton river, carry- 
ing ofi" the filth. Each street, too, where it passes into 
another, has heavy gates, so that the inhabitants and 
police of a limited district have it under their control. In 
case of a riot or violence in one street, by closing the 
gates by which it opens into others, the disturbance is 
limited to its origin, and more easily suppressed, and 
neighboring districts avoid all implication. At night all 
these gates are closed, and each district shut up within 
itself. 

It rained, rained, day and night, in heavy torrents, dur- 
ing my visit to Canton, and when the flood-tides came in, 
the streets were under water. The water was particularly 
deep around the foreign factories, so that at first we were 
]n'isoners during several hours of the day ; subsequently, 



THE CITY OF RAMS. 281 

the waters were so high that the lower floors or stories 
were entirely overflow^n, and the only mode of getting 
about was by boats. Thousands of the Cantonese lost 
their lives by this flood, and even this abundance of water 
did not save them from the affliction of fire ; for, in the 
midst of the rains, a quarter of boats floating on the river 
— flower boats — gaily gilded and ornamented — the scenes 
of the grossest Chinese revelry and debauchery — took 
fire, and lives were lost, variously estimated from hun- 
dreds to a thousand. They were chiefly those of the 
women who had abandoned themselves to this life of 
licentiousness ; but there were also several young Chi- 
nese students, who had just taken high collegiate honors, 
and were celebrating their triumph in these dens of dis- 
sipation — a terrible passage from an intellectual glory to 
a death of shame. 

These terrible rains were an annoyance to us, but in 
the future, death and desolation to awful masses from 
the nearly four hundred millions of Chinese. There are 
now lying before me on my table a mass of dirty, green 
greasy-looking copper coin, each one about the size of a 
twelve and a half cent piece, and having a hole perforated 
through the centre. This coin is called Cash, and about 
twelve hundred of them make the dollar. They are 
strung on bamboo fibre in masses of one hundred each, 
or about eight cents, and immense masses of these are 
piled up on the counters of the bankers, brokers and 
money changers. Yet this small coin, a single " cash," this, 
in value, infinitesimal currency, is a medium of jDurchase 
with the Chinese, and becomes an index of the low cost 
of subsistence. One hundred cash may be considered a 
large daily expense, hence a rise in the price of rice, a 
doubling of its value, may put the means of subsistence 
out of the power of many families, and doom them to 
starvation. Three days' rain at the season of harvest will 



282 ' IN CHINA . 

do this ; what then must be the terrible consequences of 
these deluges at this time? Much of the grain is just 
ripening, much has been cut, and is in shock in the field. 
Rice has already doubled in value, and the first moans of 
the coming agony are heard in the report, the domes- 
tics bring in, of the pinching hunger, already experienced, 
among their families and in their association. Although 
families employ a host of servants in this country, by a 
curious system there are none of them fed in the family, 
but support themselves. They generally pay so much to a 
comprador to supply them ; from a dollar and a half to 
two dollars a month. 

During the last scarcity, a year or two ago, the suffer- 
ing became so enormous as to paralyze even the hope of 
relief, and those taking their evening walk in the neigh- 
borhood of the cities, would pass not unfrequently on the 
road side the bodies of those who had laid them down 
and died for want of food. With such experiences as 
these, how greatly must every American rejoice in the 
freedom of his own happy country from such dire distress. 
Poverty is an inconvenience, and may entail the sweat- 
ing brow, but, in drought and flood, there is enough for 
all; where one case of starvation rouses the indignant 
sympathies of whole communities, and none sit down in 
unfeeling apathy to see entire families of whole districts, 
the pining infant and indurated old age, passing out of 
life for want of food. There must be something radically 
wrong in the social arrangements of humanity to produce 
such results, or there must be some unseen ulterior de- 
signs of Providence to be effected by such sacrifices, like 
the good which grows out of the volcano, the storm, 
the earthquake and the pestilence. One age records 
the misery, another the tenfold blessing growing out 
of it. 

These food necessities of China are driving its inhabit- 



CANTON, THE CITY OF RAMS. 283 

ants over the face of the earth, and who shall foretell the 
result? The Coolie trade is carrying Chinese and Chi- 
nese institutions into various parts of the globe. The first 
and a heavy wave broke npon the United States at Cal- 
ifornia, and they have even been imported for the use of 
Kentucky iron furnaces. 

About the time we went up to Canton there seemed to 
be an unusual degree of fermentation in the Chinese mind 
of that city, and an increase of its hostility to foreigners. 
It was the first rumbling of the storm of war which broke 
forth the following fall. Inflammatory placards were put 
before the public, urging it to expel the foreign barbarians 
and drive them into the sea. This aggravated state of feel- 
ing is supposed to be caused by the outrages of the CooHe 
trade ; in which public Chinese opinion implicates all for- 
eigners. 

This feeling of animosity is always sufficiently active 
among the Cantonese. It is correctly set forth by the 
following remarks from the Chinese JRepository :* 

" Foreigners, in their limited walks, are seldom or never 
accompanied by native gentlemen. Few, if any respect- 
able Chinese, are willing to be seen abroad in company 
with Europeans ; nor is this strange when we bear in mind 
the fact, that wherever the foreigner goes, he is sure to 
be assailed with ofiensive language, not to say sticks, 
stones, brickbats, and so forth. 

" It is not so at the north ; but here, no matter who the 
foreigner may be, or where he may go, if he but appears 
in European costume, and goes among the common peo- 
ple, he is sure to have volleys of vile epithets heaped on 
him. By some, by most, these are overlooked or un- 
heeded. This is the cheapest and the wisest policy. By 
others, they are frowned at ; and by now and then one 
they are recompensed vi et armis. The use of these 

* Vol. XV". 



284 ' IN CHINA. 

terms does not give unequivocal evidence of malice pre- 
pense or of a malicious heart ; but tliey always grate 
harshly on the ear, and ought not to be allowed. Fan 
hwey^fdn kwey po^fctn hwey tsae, and others too vile to 
be repeated, are the offspring of none other than base 
feelings, and as such they can not be too strongly repro- 
bated." 

In the month of June immediately preceding our visit 
in July to Canton, the following inflammatory handbill 
was placarded on the w^alls of Canton : — 

TRANSLATION. 

" The absence of interruption to the peace of the coun- 
try is of the same vital importance, in our opinion, as the 
maintenance of regularity in the avocations of its inhabit- 
ants. We now call public attention to the fact that in the 
province of Canton, from the earliest to the present times, 
barbarians have never been allowed to go into the villages. 
Recently, however, a set of unprincipled vagabonds have 
been met with, who, without any fear of shame or expo- 
sure, carry on a secret intercourse with the barbarian dogs, 
and combine wdth them in a number of ways for working- 
out their crafty schemes. Night and day, we see them 
entering the \dllages, and occasioning so much trouble by 
their irregularities, that gods and men must unite in de- 
testation of their practices. To judge of the extent of the 
evil to which our provincial metropolis is thus exjDOsed, we 
have only to look to Shanghae and Hong Kong, and take 
note of the iniquities that are there committed. 

"Hereafter, therefore, w^henever any barbarian dogs 
come within our limits, we ought, by calling together our 
families, to maintain the dignity of our city (or provhice), 
and, bravely rushing upon them, kill every one. Thus 
may we, in the first place, appease the anger of Heaven ; 
in the second, give evidence of our loyalty and patriotism ; 



CANTON, THE CITY OF RA.MS. 285 

and, in the third, restore peace and qniet to our homes. 
How great would be the happiness we should thus secure." 

Mr. Parkes, her Majesty's Consul, himself very familiar 
with Canton, very kindly proffered to accompany me in 
a walk around the walls of the city, a distance of seven 
miles. * 

But not wishing to impose upon him a labor of so little 
interest to himself, I declined his offer ; and not realizing 
the danger of the hostile spirit of the Cantonese, although 
on the 2d of July two English gentlemen had been at- 
tacked while rowing, I arose early on the morning of the 
22d of that month, and, with a sedan chair and three 
coolies, started on the exploration by myself. The chair 
I had taken as much to have the chair-coohes as guides, 
as for a conveyance, and, therefore, seldom used it except 
in the more filthy and muddy part of the route. 

The high, heavy and parapeted city wall, through most 
of its circuit has small Chinese shops and dwehings built 
beyond it, with only a narrow filthy lane between them 
and the wall ; and at the early hour of my journey the air 
was loaded mth all villainous smells. Beyond these dis- 
gusts, and the occasional abuse of boys and cries oi Fan 
Jcwei^ I met no disturbance in the first part of my route ; 
and things became more interesting as I came out back of 
the city into green fields and neat vegetable gardens. 
Here, however, on the path side, I saw the repulsive spec- 
tacle of a dead Chinaman lying just as he had sunk down 
to die, as his attenuated form indicated, of starvation. ISTo 
more attention was paid to the body by the passers-by 
than if it had been that of a dog or a cat. 

I had nearly passed this open space, and was again ap- 
proaching the dense outside settlements which the wall 
penetrated, and was walking ahead of my chair, when I 
came under the observation of a group of rascals sitting in 
one of the parapet towers of the wall. From the energy 



286 ' IN CHINA. 

with which they sprang to their feet and cried out, Fan 
Jcwei^ I anticipated some mischief^ but kept on my way, 
not taking any notice of them, until their loud curses were 
substantially accompanied by missiles. A stone struck me 
on the head, or rather on the thick-crowned rice paper or 
pith hat Avhich I fortunately had on. It cut into the half- 
inch thickness of this with sufficient force to show how 
serious the blow would have been had I worn my cloth cap. 
Involuntarily I turned, and shaking ray fist at the party, 
threatened them with the vengeance of the mandarins. 
As soon as I walked beyond their view I got into my 
chair. It was well I did so, for the crowded rabble among 
which I now passed in the narrow lanes manifested the 
greatest hostility. The obnoxious cries sounded ahead of 
me in the streets, before the chair could be, amid the 
crowd, visible to those uttering them ; and men would 
rush up ferociously to the side of the chair, as if bent on 
violence. But my coolies were as anxious to get rid of 
their burden as I was to be released from the whole party. 
They kept on a very fast walk, approaching a dog-trot ; 
and I suspect if any thing had arrested the progress of the 
chair, a violent assault would have been made upon me. 
I was very much gratified to find myself, after a three 
hours' journey around the walls of Canton, once more 
safely in the sanctuary of the foreign Hongs. 

This ferocity of the Cantonese is not alone manifested 
in regard to foreigners ; it is the essential character of 
the whole province, as described by native writers. So 
prone are they represented to be to fightings and dis- 
turbances, that conflicting and hostile parties will ally 
themselves to drive ofiF the authorities who would seek 
to interfere with their amiable and affectionate sports — 
parents and children, brother and brethren engaged in 
conflict with each other ; and the inhabitants of modern 
Kwangtung are, equally with those described by the an- 



MACAO, THE CITY OF CAMOENS. 287 

cient native historians, " fond of what belongs to dem- 
ons." But since my visit, the foreign factories, Old China, 
N'ew China, and Curiosity streets have all disappeared 
before the flames of war, and the sealed streets of the 
City of Rams have been opened to the free foot of the 
Fankwei. 



XXIY. 

MACAO, 

THE CITY OF CAMOEl^-S. 

" My cradle was the couch of Care, 
And Sorrow rocked me in it ; 
Fate seemed her saddest robe to wear 
On the first day that saw me there, 
And darkly shadowed with despair 
My earliest minute. 

" For I was made in Joy's despite, 
And meant for Misery's slave ; 
And all my hours of brief dehght 
Fled, like the speedy winds of night, 
"Which soon shall wheel their sullen flight 
Across my grave." 
— Gamoens, translated by Lord Strang ford. 



"Porta de Nomo de Deos," "Porta de Amacao," " Cidado de Santo 
Nomo de Deos de Macao," and, as a final. contraction, "Macao" alone. 

Iisr these latter days Macao, to the traveler, is Camoens, 
as Stratford-upon-Avon is Shakspeare. Hence my mel- 
ancholy quotations from the composition of the poet, as 
I draw near the place which is eminent as the refuge of 
the fortune-stricken bard, and the locality of the solitary 
cave in which he nursed his muse. 

I have much respect and admiration for decayed gentry ; 



288 ' IN CHINA. 

those who show forth the dignity and refinement of past 
state and pomp beneath the softening influences of pres- 
ent privation and adversity. They present the pictur- 
esque in the social scene, as the crumbling tower, touched 
by the setting sun, does in the natural. 

Therefore such old towns as Macao are pleasant to me, 
made up of great massy old houses, surrounded by grounds 
darkened by trees and tangled in shrubbery, which, with 
the crabbed independence of age, has a will of its own, 
above all trimmings and trainings. The families occupy- 
ing these homes — pleasant, quiet people, they are, every 
one says — how they live, no one knows — are poHshed, 
dignified, unobtrusive, and always seeming to say, by 
their amiable, mild deportment, " It is aifection, not pride, 
which makes us chng to the old home, and the associa- 
tions of all that is left us — our family history." What 
have such people to do with the fuss, and struggle, and 
turmoil of the present ? Their lives are in the past ; 
they are dreamy-looking people ; even the children look 
so, and all the family have their hopes resting upon that 
thoughtful-looking boy and pensive girl, who are just, 
coming into life. By them the sinking star of the house 
is to close in darkness or rise to its former brilliancy. 

There is a charming contrasted repose in such a quiet 
old town as Macao to one who, three hours before, leaves 
the upstart, fussy pretension of Hong Kong, where every- 
body is trying to be somebody, and nobody believes that 
anybody else is any thing. 

The natural site of Macao is picturesque. It climbs up 
the sides and through the ravines of a group of hills, the 
summits of which are topped by old castles and convents. 

Conspicuous among the ruins of Macao, on one of these 
hill-tops, is the front wall of an old church, standing out 
sharp and clear upon its elevation. Only this front wall 
remains, its ragged edges and window-openings cushioned 



MACAO, THE CITY OF C A M O E N S . 289 

with moss and fringed with the wild foliage which time 
has planted. 

The stone-faced mole, or praya, which curves in front of 
the city, was in former days the scene of a bustling com- 
merce, but is now the pleasant, quiet promenade of those 
who have nothing better to do. Besides this Portuguese 
and foreign Macao, there is, in the low groimds of the city, 
a dense mass of a Chinese town ; and the combined popu- 
lation, Portuguese, foreign, Chinese, Malay, and mixed, is 
about thirty thousand. At the mouth of the Tigris, and 
as a sea-port of Canton before Hong Kong sprung up, 
Macao had a day of commercial prosperity. For over 
three hundred years it has been a foreign settlement. The 
general impression is, that it was given the Portuguese 
as a reward for their having suppressed piracy on the 
coast. But there is no evidence that there has ever been 
any relinquishment of sovereignty on the part of the Chi- 
nese authorities. The Portuguese claim seems to be but 
that of possession, at first tolerated, then permitted, and 
now acknowledged, in fact if not in name. 

Provisions are abundant and good ; the climate pleas- 
ant and healthful, and it is the chosen retreat of the busi- 
ness-worn merchants of Canton and Hong Kong, the 
refuge of those whose fortunes have been broken, and 
the residence of the foreign legations, all of whom make 
up an agreeable society, whose chief occupation and 
amusement is social intercourse. The English and Ameri- 
can difficulties with the Chinese, and the blockade of Can- 
ton have somewhat revived the activity of Macao. Even 
in the worst times there is always some animation on 
the praya, and the sea which washes it, in the group of 
Tanka boats, and the girls who, I was going to say, ma7i 
them, and as these girls really do the hard labor of 
' men, the nautical verb may remain. These picturesque, 
white-teethed, laughing-mouthed, bandana kerchief-head- 

13 



290 IN CHINA. 

ed nymphs, live on the water, and make their living by- 
landing passengers from the steamers which run between 
Macao and Hong Kong — and did in time past run be- 
tween this port and Canton — and in rowing to the bath- 
ing places the business and dissipation-worn wretches who 
retreat for a few weeks to Macao to tone up. And at 
these bathing places, too often the unblushing immod- 
esty of the civilized Christian belies his country and his 
training, and outrages those whose necessities compel 
them to do him service. 

The commercial foreign resident of China too often 
looks upon the native as in no wise superior to brute 
beasts, and an abiding contempt of the judgment and 
ability of missionaries on the imrt of the commercial com- 
munity rests partly upon the fact that missionaries will 
regard Chinese as human beings ; partly, perhaps, upon 
the fact that those who make wealth their aim, have a pity 
for the stupidity of those who live for other objects. 

The Tanka boat people are said to be of an unknown 
race, distinct from Tartar or Chinese. They have their 
own customs ; the females never contract their feet ; they 
marry among themselves. Where the men live, and how, 
I do not know. 

Among the various kinds of barometers, natural and 
artificial, few are more accurate than these Tanka boat- 
girls. The wind is a little fresh this evening — nothing 
remarkable; the bay is just tossed into short curling 
waves — not so rough, but that the freshness rather invites 
you to go before it, and take a pull in a Tanka boat. You 
can not do it. See now what an animated scene the praya 
presents. Life has rushed, or is rushing, up from the 
water to the land. The damsels are helping each other, 
pulling and tugging, dragging their boats up the inclined 
planes of the stone jetty, and moving them on rollers up 
and down the praya, until they form a village of mat- 



MACAO, THE CITY OF C A M O JE N S . 291 

roofed houses. You had better not try your water ex- 
cursion now, even if you could persuade the ladies to 
take you. Go home, if you hapj^en to have a home, and 
care any thing for it ; and put in your heavy typhoon 
bars over doors and windows, and most hkely before 
morning comes these bars will be bending like twigs. I 
have heard the winds in these tempests come dashing 
against the windows in gusty blasts, until the stout bars 
bowed and bent, as though they must violently break 
and open the room to the tempest. During my residence 
on the coast of China, there came one of these typhoons 
so violently and suddenly at Macao, as to grind up the 
boats which were caught out, and destroy many lives. 

Macao rests its association with genius not alone upon 
the fame of Camoens. It has also that of the painter 
Chinnery. " "Who was Chinnery ?" I dare say most of you 
will ask. He died at Macao where he had lived for some 
time, an octogenarian genius, too great a man intrinsically 
to be little great externally. He loved the productions 
of his talent better than he did fame or money. With a 
few single touches of his pen or imstudied dashes of his 
brush, he produced living effects Vv'hich no care and elab- 
oration of the less gifted could effect. Many, especially 
in Philadelphia, may have seen the engraving by Sartain 
of the old Chinese merchant, Howqua, after an original 
painting by Chinnery. In the twelfth chapter of " The 
Newcomes," Thackery pays a tribute to his skill in the 
words of Colonel ISTewcome : " Chinnery himself, sir, could 
not hit a likeness better." 

After his death the fragments of his studio and port- 
folio were sold at very high rates. 

Regarding Macao as associated with the only great 
poem the Portuguese have produced, there is a harmony 
in its decay which makes it the fitting monument of the 
man who wandered, the world over, the victim of thwarted 



292 . IN CHINA. 

first love ; who, born noble, sustained his existence by the 
begging of his negro slave, and ended his hfe in a hospital. 
As a broken column emblems the useful life cut short, the 
lonely cavern and the crumbling city may emblem such a 
genius in ruin, and the gloom of its existence. 

In admiration for a genius which has passed from earth, 
we lose sight of the great alloy which may have adulter- 
ated the pure metal of that genius, and are too prone 
to visit with our censure and indignation the age and the 
people which have failed to surround its possessor with 
wealth, luxury and splendor proportioned to the magnitude 
in which the immortal abstraction has come down to us. 

We remember Camoens and the Lusiad, the beggar 
poet and the alms-house death-bed ; we generously but un- 
justly forget how much the poet had to do with making 
his own bed. According to those compensations which 
conserve a healthful society, his life may have naturally 
tended to this one end. He had devoted himself to pas- 
sion, to love, to licentious love, than which there can be 
no perversion of the human faculties more purely selfish, 
no exertion of them which makes so little claim upon so- 
ciety, none which so physically effeminates and morally in- 
durates the individual, and renders him unfit for the love of 
useful labor which has its reward in accumulating comfort. 

Camoens had evidently made his bargain with life and 
written it out : — 

" "Why should I pant for sordid gain ? 
Or why ambition's voice believe? 
Since, dearest, thou dost not disdain 
The only gift I have to give. 

" Time would with speed of lightning flee, 
And every hour a comfort bring, 
And days and years, employed for thee, 
Shake pleasures from their passing wing." 

Such was his bargain, and verily he had his reward. 



MACAO, THE CITY OF CAMOENS. 293 

" Gallantry," says a biograplier, " was the leading trait in 
the disposition of Camoens. His amours were various and 
successful. His own words, in his last days of poverty and 
wretchedness, are the most forcible commentary of the 
result of his bargain, and how rigidly he was held to it : — '■ 

" Alas, when I was a poet I was young, and happy, and 
blest with the love of ladies ; but now, I am a folorn, 
devoted wretch ! See, there stands my poor Antonio, 
vainly supplicating fourpence to purchase a little coals. 
I have them not to give him." 

His own verse has hinted the justice of his experience : — 

" I saw the virtuous man contend 
"With, hfe's unnumbered woes, 
And he was poor, without a friend, 
Pressed by a thousand foes. 

" I saw the Passions' phant slave 
In gallant trim and gay ; 
His course was Pleasure's placid wave. 
His hfe a summer day. 

" And I was caught in Folly s snare, 
And joined her giddy train, 
But found her soon the nurse of Care, 
And Punishment, and Pain. 

" There surely is some guiding power 
"Which rightly suffers wrong, 
Gives vice to bloom its little hour, 
But virtue late and long." 

The cave of Camoens is in the grounds of a private 
residence. It has been so perverted by art as to lose all 
that is picturesque. 

During the whole of my visit to Macao, of about two 
weeks' duration, it rained incessantly — the whole country 
was deluged — the prospects of rice diminished. Faggots 
of wood, sold as fuel by weight, increased in heaviness by 



294 • IN CHINA. 

the absoi-ption of water, and also in the amount of cash 
to buy it ; the cries of the poor increased, and many died 
of stai-vation. 

It was during this residence in Macao I came first into 
contact mth the strange language called " Pigeon Eng- 
lese" (business English). It is in use not only between Chi- 
nese and English, but between the Chinese themselves, 
when they speak different dialects. " Why do n't you do 
so and so ?" I said to my boy. 

" My got too much pigeon" (I have too much business). 

"How can do that pigeon?" or "My no makee that 
pigeon," "My no savee that pigeon,?' equivalent to "I 
can not do that." 

" Missus havee got ?" you say to the boy at the door, 
when you ask for the lady of the house, and he answers 
you, as she may be out, or u^ stairs, or down stairs, 

" No got" — " Havee got topside" — " Havee got down- 
side." 

"Catchee me one piece glass of water — two piece of 
glass of water," or "Catchee me" any thing you want 
brought you. 

" Take this to your mistress, and tell her I will direct 
her what to do with it when she comes down," I said to 
a Chinese boy in the presence of an old resident. . He 
laughed at the wondering look of the boy, and then trans- 
lated for me : " Talkee Missus, when come downside. 
Doctor talkee he how can do that thing. " 

Upon one occasion, when living on shore, I had made 
arrangements with the First Lieutenant for a sampan, or 
Chinese boat, our mess had employed, to call every morn- 
ing at a certain place and wait a few minutes for me, in 
case I wished to go off at that hour. The man called sev- 
eral mornings in succession without my going down, and 
thinking it labor lost, he went to the First Lieutenant and 
said, in a tone of vexation — 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 295 

" ISTo good my go every day. Ko can catchee that piece 
of Doctor." 

" A terrible incident associated itself with my visit to 
Macao. A Dutch ship, the Banca, loaded with coolies, 
had put in there — humanity swapping black skin for yel- 
low. She anchored in full sight, some three or four miles 
off the town. As I walked to my lodgings, a light arose 
from that ship ; soon her hull and spars were lighted up 
by a devouring conflagration, and amid the light, the 
human forms were leaping from place to place, and 
many into the sea. In the morniug her burnt hull only 
remained. A mutiny had occurred on board ; the cap- 
tain and ofiicers trained guns from the quarter-deck and 
fii'ed among the dense mass ; the conflagration ensued by 
accident or design, and of five hundred only about one 
hundred and fifty escaped. 



xxy. 

A LOOK AT JAPAN. 



Ox Tuesday, August 12, we again left Hong Kong for 
that eremitical empire which prefers seclusion and domes- 
tic quiet to the activity of commerce and the cares oi 
money-getting. This time every thing seemed to favor 
our voyage, and, with wind and steam, our ship did bet- 
ter than she had done yet this cruise — made twelve knots 
an hour. With this speed we ran through the channel 
between the mainland and Formosa ; but in two days 
more, as we passed the north of the island, things changed. 
The barometer became unsettled, the weather rainy, wind 
unsteady and finally ahead, reducing our speed to. six 
knots. The sea was heavy, and compelled the closing 
of our little vent-holes, the air-ports. It was comfortless 
above, and miserably wretched, sea-sick weather below. 



296 IN CHINA. 

Whilst thus glooming along, we were roused into some 
excitement by seeing the surface of the sea clotted with 
chests or cases of something. Every glass in the ship was 
brought to bear upon them. In every direction they were 
rising and falling with the waves — carefully wi'ap2>ed and 
strap j)ed boxes. Our avaricious imaginations looked upon 
them as valuable prizes. Chests of tea they might be, 
and then good for nothing ; but cases of silk or opium 
might be worth picking up. A boat was lowered, and 
they proved, to our disappointment, nothing more than 
cases of dried lichis,* the deck-load, probably, of some 
wrecked junk. About an hour afterwards, another ob- 
ject was descried from the deck, not being seen by the 
look-out at the mast-head. At first it was made out 
to be a spar- — ^then something like a man upon it — then 
some thought they saw him move his arms. Man or not, 
he was broad off abeam of us, and it was only a chance 
we did not pass the object by. A boat was lowered, in 
which Lieutenant Williamson went after him, and at the 
same time the ship headed in that direction. 

It was a solitary Chinaman floating upon a slender 
bamboo raft. As the boat approached him, he threw 
up his hands, bowed his head and burst into tears. He 
had strength enough left to step into the boat, but im- 
mediately sank beneath exhaustion and the revulsion 
consequent upon his rapid change of circumstances. As 
he came over the side, he sank on his knees to the officer 
of the deck who received him at the gangway ; and as I 
reached out my hand to feel his pulse, he grasped it with 
both his, and gave this expression of feeling toward every 
officer who approached him. His hands and feet were 
white, and shriveled by the action of the water. 

The Chinese servants we had on board understood him 
but imperfectly, and we could not make much of his 
history. He had belonged to a junk, on its way from 
■■^ An abundant and very good fruit when fresh. 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 297 

Canton to Shangliae ; had been out now half a month ; 
four days ago they were overtaken by the tempest, in 
•which all of thirty, except himself, had been lost. 

Not long after this a sail was cried from the mast-head, 
which was seen, as we came up with it, to be a dismasted 
and wrecked junk. At first we supposed it to be aban- 
doned. There were, however, twenty to thirty persons 
on board. The masts were all gone, except the foremast, 
and the rudder lost. As we came up, the poor wretches 
seemed very much rejoiced, and by way of expressing 
their thankfulness and joy, a large gong was held up and 
pounded vigorously. A boat was sent on board the 
wreck, and after some time word was brought back that all 
on board were anxious to quit the wreck except two men, 
the captain and owner, who wished to be towed into safety. 
Upon hearing this report, orders were given to hoist up 
our boat, and leave them all as they were, except that a 
compass was sent them. Upon seeing our movements, 
the people on board the wreck sent forth the most heart- 
rending shrieks ; some threw themselves on their knees, 
some jumped about frantically, and some were rapidly 
tossing their arms into the air. All of them, including the 
two who had declined abandoning the wreck, joined in 
these demonstrations of despair. They were supposed 
to be forty miles from an uninhabited island, over three 
hundred from the mainland, and about one hundred and 
twenty from Formosa, which they could make. 

Whilst we were engaged with this wreck two others 
were discovered, both apparently dismasted — one station- 
ary, and one, apparently a lorcha, with a small sail on a 
foremast, was under way, and firing guns of distress. 

We stood first for the stationary wreck, and found 
her at anchor, with the rudder and all the masts gone. 
There were ninety-four persons on board, including eleven 
women. Understood them to say they did not wish to 

18^ 



298 IN CHINA. 

leave the wreck, and sent them a S2:tar and sail. The 
officer who took these aboard says that, when he left, the 
captain commenced crying, and many of the others clung 
to his legs. It must be considered that our communica- 
tion with these distressed wi'etches was very imperfect. 
Chinamen do not understand each other, unless from the 
same district, and the man we used as interpreter, spoke 
English imperfectly. It was melancholy to think of how 
many misunderstood, or unexpressed hoj^es and sighs 
there were on boai>;l that wreck. 

"We now turned our head, just before dark, to the 
lorcha, which had been firing signals of distress. She 
had approached more near to us whilst we were engaged 
with the other wreck. She was an armed government 
lorcha, and was altogether in much better condition than 
either of the others ; but the captain and officers were 
willing to abandon her, although informed they must 
leave every thing behind, except their clothing. They 
did so, and all, to the number of fifty-three, came on 
board of us. The vessel had a cargo of sugar, and twelve 
barrels of powder in her magazine. She was, however, set 
fire to. Dm-ing the night we came up with another junk, 
the people of which announced by loud cries their want 
of assistance. They were in want of water, and had been 
suffering for some days for food, the destitution of water 
preventing the cooking of their rice. "We supplied them 
with four hundred gallons. A typhoon had preceded us. 

On Sunday, the iVth, we were rolling every thing about 
in heavy, rough weather. There were constant rain- 
squalls, and the barometer fell to 29^^ 40' — a very, very 
uncomfortable day. 

Monday 18th was better, though the sea was rough. 
The sky was clear, and we made the Lintochin group of 
lofty islands, the first of the Japanese empire ; and after 
that, with a dehghful temperature, a smooth sea, a gentle 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 299 

breeze and cool nights — such nights for sleeping ! — we ran 
along the Japanese empire, but a solitary sail. Here we 
were, on the coast of an old nation of a population greater 
than that of the United States, and running along it for 
hundreds of mile^, and not a sign of that prosperity which 
is indicated by the word so dear to western nations — 
commerce. "Whether they have, in such isolation, happi- 
ness, is to be determined by a decision of the question 
whether this is most to be found in seclusion or in the 
activities of life. 

On the 22d, we made the harbor of Simoda, off which 
we fell in with a large fishing-fleet of Japanese. They 
were comfortable-looking boats, filled with robust men, 
wearing generally broad straw flats and long blue calico 
gowns. They crowded their boats up on both sides of 
our ship, and supposing they wished to put a pilot on 
board, we stopped, but no one could be induced to enter 
the ship ; they waved their hands in the direction of 
Simoda, and altogether seemed kindly disposed. As we 
drew in with the land the weather became thick and 
rainy, but about noon we ran into the harbor of Simoda. 
As we entered it a boat was seen pulling out bearing two 
flags, the Japanese, three horizontal stripes, two white 
and a black one between them, and the other one our 
own stars and stripes. This boat brought us a pilot, a 
short, full-faced, respectable individual, in straw sandals, 
blue stockings, with a separate place for the great toe, 
like the thumb of a mitten, and affording a holding-place 
for the string which retained the sandal to the foot ; cot- 
ton trowsers, tight around the ankles and loose and baggy 
about the legs ; a short gown of similar materials crossing 
the breast in intersected folds. Stuck through a girdle, 
on his left side, was a short, black-handled, black-scab- 
barded sword, but his head, as every male Japanese 
head I saw, was most peculiarly arranged and decorated. 



300 -IN CHINA. 

The top, from the forehead to a little back of the vertex, 
and for a breadth of three inches, was clean-shaved. The 
hair, black and shining, was then brought np from the 
back and sides of the head, and formed into a smooth 
spike, with the end cut even. Being bound by a thread 
close to the scalp, this spike made first a short bend 
back, and then forward, resting like a piece of polished 
ebony upon the shaved surface. This functionary drew 
from the folds of his gown a box, in which, carefully pro- 
tected by several wrappers, was his commission as pilot 
for American vessels, given him by Commodore Perry, 
and printed in English and Dutch, by the "Japan Expe- 
dition press." He spoke but a few words of English, and 
none of us spoke Japanese, but he gave us to understand, 
by the waving of his hand, when we were to go to star- 
board, or port, or ahead. 

The San Jacinto was the first propeller he had ever 
seen, but our visitor made known his knowledge of the 
difierence between a side-wheel steamer and a propeller, 
first paddling with both hands, and then pointing with 
one towards the stern, and moving it in rapid circles. 
The Captain and he carried on an animated conversation 
in gestures which employed both their bodies and all 
their limbs, and took up half the poop deck. It far ex- 
ceeded that between the Spanish professor of signs and 
the one-eyed butcher at the University of Glasgow. 

If, perchance, a traveler sets his eyes upon any foreign 
country, and pretends to give an account of it, it seems 
to be a modern expectation that he should give a whole 
history of it — its laws, institutions, manners, and customs. 
I have no such intuitively observing faculties. It is true, 
I might begin learnedly with Marco Polo and Engelfeldt 
Kampfer, but so many of late have disinterred these an- 
tiquities, that even their names are no longer a sign of 
special lore. As the knowledge of Japan seems to stop 



A LOOK AT JAPAK. 301 

with old Kampfer, I am not sure that there would be 
any great want of charity in hoping that the Japanese 
would give our Consul General and his observant secre- 
tary a cage journey throughout their sealed empire. Of 
course we should promptly avenge their wrongs, shake 
down the walls of exclusion, and make peace by shaking 
hands with the Siogoun on his throne in Tedo, and then, 
for once, we should know all about modern Japan. In- 
deed, the interesting revelations and observations the 
prisoners would be able to make, the wonderful stories 
they would have to tell, might go far to shorten the du- 
ration of our national anger. ^' 

In the meantime, I must paddle my httle canoe near 
the shore. I was only thirteen days in Simoda, and did 
not even see that little fishing village ; and to write an 
account of Japan from the most thorough observation of 
such a point would be as though one, entirely ignorant 
of our language, should write his views of the United 
States, east, west, north and south, from a two weeks' 
residence at Ocracoke Inlet. 

What I could do to see something, I did. I studied 
the country in the only place where the people and the 
government could be seen together, and their character- 
istic relations developed — in the market-place, the bazaar 
— in Japanese, the GoyosJio. 

But we have not yet got in. I left the Captain and the 
dumjDy pilot gesticulating on the poop deck. 

As the ship ran into the harbor, its picturesque beauties 
called forth general admiration. The bay, bounded by a 
chain of pointed mountains, clothed with vegetation to 
their very summits, and the steep plains and valleys run- 
ning up between these mountains are neatly cultivated in 

* "We are glad to learn that Mr. Harris has, by his diplomatic tact and 
sicill, penetrated to the imperial residence in honorable freedom, and 
done away with the prospect of cage-traveling in the future. 



302 IN CHINA. 

terraces or shelves, rising one above another, and dimin- 
ishing in breadth until they terminate in the deep angle 
of the nook. At the mouth of the bay we passed a rug- 
ged, rocky island, overgrown with trees, and having a 
cave, into which the sea rushed, arching through it; and 
in the middle of the bay a small, craggy rock looked as 
though it had been designedly thrown there as an orna- 
mental support for the shrubbery which dressed without 
concealing it. At first we began to be suspicious as to 
the existence of any town, but presently a small village, 
with several junks lying in front of it, made its appear- 
ance in a nook to the right hand. This was the village 
of Kakizaki, at the south-eastern end of the bay ; as we 
ran a Httle further in, we observed the low roofs of 
Simoda in a recess of the bay opposite to Kakizaki, con- 
cealed by a projecting point, and defended from the 
encroachments of the sea by a long, well-built, hewn- 
stone breakwater, with a narrow channel between one 
end and the rocky shore, for the passage of small boats. 
About half way between the two towns, we dropped our 
anchor in nine fathoms water. 

Soon after, a boat came oif from the town, bringing a 
large number of Japanese — several persons of rank, with 
their attendants. Nothing of western costume can give 
an idea of the style of a Japanese gentleman's dress, unless 
it may be that of a plain, neat, but richly-dressed Quakeress, 
just attired for a street promenade. The pantaloons, of 
silk, rich in texture, but plain and soft in color and figure, 
have each leg broad and ample as a petticoat itself. Their 
colors are lead or dove-color, tea-green, rich browns, or fine 
blue and white stripes. These petticoat trowsers meet at 
the waist a mantle or vest of silk, which crosses the should- 
ers and breast in intersecting oblique folds, like what is call- 
ed a surplice dress. Over this is worn a loose short gown 
of fine transparent silk gauze, generally black or dove- 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 303 

colored. The sleeves hang very large and loose. On each 
sleeve and on the shoulder of thi^ gown, woven in white, is 
a delicate figure, a circle inclosing some device, a lozenge, 
three petals, or cross bars ; the coat-of-arms of the indivi- 
dual ; the same device is worked upon the mantle of his re- 
tainers. A long and a short sword, stuck through a girdle 
on the left side, the stiff, clumsy-looking spike lying along 
the centre of the head, and the stockings and sandals already 
described complete the costume. The manner and counte- 
nances of these men — indeed, of aU the Japanese gentry 
I saw — were those of intelligent, polished gentlemen. 
They exhibited that kind of quiet, subdued courtesy 
which is the effect of excessive training, and the habitual 
suppression of emotions — that manner which is so charac- 
teristic of the polished clergy of the Romish church. The 
smiles which constantly lighted their countenances set 
forth a display of beautifully white and regular teeth. It 
is strange that those who can prize and appreciate such 
teeth, should tolerate the artificially blackened teeth of 
the married women. 

As an illustration of their courteous deportment, and 
of their mode of salutation, I saw two gentlemen on shore 
about to pass each other — acquaintances I suppose. One 
rested his hands upon his circumflexed knees, and, with 
gracious smiles, lowly bowed his body forward ; the other 
immediately did the same thing, each bow was repeated, 
and they passed on. Such is not only the salutation of 
inferiors to superiors, but the exchange of courtesy be- 
tween equals. 

Before leaving China for Japan we had entertained 
some anticipations of getting some of the pretty lacquer- 
work bijou for which the Japanese are celebrated, and 
have been from the earliest period of the acquaintance of 
European nations with them. Our hopes were not very 
sanguine, as some British officers with whom we made 



304 ^ IN CHINA. 

acquaintance had been very unsuccessful. One of their 
party had succeeded in procuring an old comb, or piece 
of a comb, the only thing obtained. Among the first 
inquiries made of our Japanese visitors was as to the 
chances of buying any of their productions, and the an- 
swer received was, " Goyosho." In the meantime, some 
of our officers, who had been visiting the shore, had acci- 
dentally discovered the Goyosho, and came off with such 
brilliant accounts of its lacquer-ware and mother-of-pearl 
inlaid articles, it seemed as though they had discovered 
some store-house of treasures in a fairy land. Curiosity 
was very much excited, and, with others, I took an early 
opportunity of visiting the shore. The " Goyosho" was 
built on the edge of a canal, walled with hewn stone, on 
one side of the town. It consisted of a range of one- 
storied wooden buildings, inclosing a hollow square, filled 
in with loose, small-sized pebble-stones. The front of the 
estabhshment was occupied as a town-haU, or rooms for 
the transaction of public business, and opened upon a 
yard similarly paved with loose pebble-stones, and shut in 
by gates from the street. The entrance to the commercial 
part of the establishment was on one side ; and, immedi- 
ately at the right hand, upon entering, was a small room 
for the porter or gatekeeper, messenger, guard, or what- 
ever he might be. On the left hand was a much larger 
room, with broad lounges covered with matting, for the 
midday repose of those visiting the bazaar. At the en- 
trance to this room sate a vessel of drinking-water, with 
a new smooth white pine cover, over which lay a wooden 
dipper, and alongside of it several small porcelain cups. 
The remainder of three sides of the " Goyosho" were 
shops entirely open in front to the court-yard, and filled 
with the finest lacquer-work of Japan. It was ranged 
along the oj^en front side of the shops, and piled away at 
the back on shelves to the roof, with a convenient aisle or 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. . 305 

avenue between the front and back collection. The arti- 
cles consisted of black and gold, black and inlaid scarlet 
maroon, gilded and inlaid boxes and cabinets, of various 
shapes and sizes, in value from fifty cents up to two hun- 
dred dollars. Lacquered cups, bowls, and waiters, of 
various sizes, shapes, and colors ; maroon, scarlet, green 
and gold, predominating. There was also a small collec- 
tion of silks and of porcelain. 

The front or fourth side of the building, it has been said, 
was used as a public hall ; but at the back where it opened 
upon the court-yard, was an elevated covered floor or plat- 
form, which was the oflice of the Goyosho. Here the clerks, 
secretaries, treasurer and interpreters sat on their heels, 
their legs folded under them, with their desks and writing 
apparatus. 'Next to this office, between it and the gate- 
keeper's room, was another small and elevated room, 
reached by several hewn stone steps. The floor was cov- 
ered smoothly with white matting ; around the sides were 
new white-pine benches, their legs not resting rudely upon 
the matting, but let into wooden bottoms. These benches 
wero covered with matting framed tightly over them. On 
each bench was a shining black lacquered tray, on which 
was a porcelain jar containing coals of fire, a smaller jar 
to receive the ashes of cigars or pipes, and between them 
a small lacquer stand with a porcelain tea-cup. This was 
a room for rest and refreshment. Indeed, every ordinary 
want and necessity was neatly and commodiously provided 
for by these Japanese ; and I have been thus minute in 
describing this building as it does much towards indicating 
certain characteristics. The whole was new and fresh, 
the timber was soft and satiny white pine, covered with 
black paint where exposed to the weather, and roofed with 
dark blue and white tiles with ornamental edges. All was 
neat, quiet, clean, fresh and toy like. 

This place was our principal resort during our stay in 



306 ■ IN CHINA. 

Simoda, not only for the purpose of purchasing, but on ac- 
count of the beauty of the display and the comforts and 
conveniences of the establishment. Up to the last day of 
our stay in Simoda, a lively excitement of purchasing Ja- 
panese lacquer- ware was kept up ; almost every boat-load of 
officers on leave made their way to the Goyosho, and every 
returning boat was piled with boxes, the result of their 
bargains, while in the evening our apartment was bril- 
liant in the exhibition and comparison of the results of 
the day's work. The Goyosho had an additional charm 
from the fact of its being the only place in which could be 
seen at once the natural Japanese character, its modifications 
by their institutions, and the searching despotism of the 
government. The inconsistency of aristocratic distinctions 
being made to depend arbitrarily upon the business pur- 
suits of individuals, was fully shown in this place. In the 
distinction of classes, merchants or traders are among the 
lowest; they may attain the honor of wearing one sword, 
but can not pretend to that of petticoat trowsers, and yet 
the high functionaries of the empire, the empire itself is a 
petty trader. In our dealings at the Goyosho, if any thing 
occurred out of the written line, involving it may be only 
a few cents, the matter was referred from the officers to 
the mysterious building in front, in which were the princely 
governors. 

The mode of transacting business was as follows : ev- 
ery article in the shops was labeled with two labels, upon 
which the price was written in Japanese and in our own 
figures. No payments were made to the person from 
whom the article was purchased. The purchaser wrote 
his name upon the parcel, the shop-tender then tore off 
the labels, and pasted one firmly upon the parcel, the other 
was taken possession of by a secretary, who made a record 
of the transaction in a book. The purchaser and the free 
label were then sent to the office, where the purchaser, 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 30T 

when he had completed his business in the shops, or at 
any time, was informed of the aggregate of his account, 
and upon making payment, received his articles, which, if 
of sufficient bulk, were sent by attendant porters to the 
landing. 

It sometimes happened that in the small shops of the 
town, we saw articles which we wished to buy. It could 
only be done by having them sent to the " Goyosho," where 
they were priced, labeled and paid for. Notwithstanding 
this rigid system the people and the officers seemed to be 
free, genial and social. They were all fond of laughing 
and joking with us, and readily made themselves ac- 
quainted with our names. As I was a daily visitor to the 
place, when I entered of a morning and as I passed through 
the shops, every one seemed to pride himself upon calhng 
mie " Doctor," or " Doctor Bood." Several of them asked 
me to prescribe for them, and having done so in one case 
T gave the man a written prescription to take on board ship 
and get the medicine. In about an hour he brought it 
back and handed it to me. I signed that he was to keep 
it and take it on board ship. He still insisted upon return- 
ing it, and as a reason for doing so, bowed his head and 
made the sign of an axe passing through his neck. The 
argument was powerful and conclusive. I took back my 
prescription. Among themselves they appeared to be 
merry and cheerful ; none of that gloomy depression which 
is the general result of such a despotism. Both from the 
functionaries of the office and from the shops in which 
there were several persons together, there would come 
shouts of laughter during the intervals of business. In 
fact, the Japanese present an anomaly in the contrast be- 
tween the natural character of the people and the nature 
of their government ; a contrast so great that the despot- 
ism of centuries has not been able to deaden their lively 
geniality. It is not difficult to see that almost every Ja- 



308 . IN CHINA. 

panese has two characters, that which is official and that 
which is personal. The official is a routine performance 
duly acted. This dual character would account for the 
contradictory accounts of them given by different writers, 
indeed by the same writer, as is the case with old Kamp- 
fer himself. Take the man in his official relations, he is 
distrustful, jealous, suspicious, cautious, unyielding, taci- 
turn, cruel ; while personally he is social, kind, trusting, 
communicative. I noticed this double existence in our 
diplomatic negotiations. Minute, earnest, exacting in car- 
rying out the wishes or instructions of the government, 
a British or an American statesman would patriotically 
identify himself with his cause, but the Japanese, his busi- 
ness being over, has no personal interest in the matter. 
This enables them to be cool and equable during the most 
interesting and important discussions. It leads also to an 
inference that any supreme government set up in place of 
that of the Siogoun, would receive the sanction of the 
Japanese masses. This is, however, taking a very broad 
look through a very narrow opening. 

The Japanese are an honest people — -and this same 
Goyosho showed at once their personal honesty and per- 
sonal confidence, with their official distrust. After a visit 
from any number of Japanese, no one would think of mis- 
sing the smallest article ; indeed, none could be induced to 
accept the most trifling present ; and, upon one occasion, 
I discovered after leaving the Goyosho, that I had received 
thirty-seven cents too much change ; an unusual thing, as 
they were generally exact. Upon returning the following 
day, I took it to the office, but as the interpreter was not 
there, I could not make them understand why I returned 
it, and they refused to receive it. I pushed it towards 
them, and they pushed it back to me, until I walked off, 
leaving it upon the floor ; when, in an hour or so, the in- 
terpreter came in, and hunted me up in one of the shops to 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 309 

know why I returned the money. They seemed to have 
no distrust as to leaving us alone in the shops, with the 
innumerable articles lying around, a degree of confidence 
which strangers do not expect nor receive in their own 
country — in World Exhibitions, for instance, where a 
policeman's eye is on every individual person and thing. 

While these private transactions and famiharities were 
going on between the ofiicers and the Japanese, the 
functionaries were arranging for an interview with the 
Consul General. The Commodore was out of health, and 
could not be present, and yet the authorities seemed ear- 
nestly desirous that he should be. A day was appointed, 
but the Governor was taken suddenly with a sore foot, and 
the day was postponed until Monday, August 25th. I 
omitted to mention, that immediately upon our arrival 
the Consul General dispatched his communications to the 
government at Yedo, but was told it would take ten days 
to receive a reply, as the post went afoot. As the dis- 
tance was only about eighty miles, we knew this to be a 
delay designed for a purpose, and were well assured that 
no action would be taken, of any kind, by the authorities 
of Simoda without instructions from Yedo. However, 
the day above mentioned was an important one in the 
annals of Japan, inasmuch as a courteous and amicable 
reception was given to a resident representative of a for- 
eign power, and that power one of the youngest among 
nations. Mr. Harris was accompanied by Captain Bell 
and a party of officers of the San Jacinto, who were re- 
ceived in the front building of the Goyosho, and enter- 
tained by a repast of confectionery, soups, tea and sacke. 

A week after this a reception was appointed for Com- 
modore Armstrong, whose health had improved. The 
Consul General and a suite of officers, in all the glittering 
decorations of a full dress uniform, accompanied him. 

We entered the council house by a hall, covered with 



310 ' IN CHINA. 

fine white matting, almost too neat and white for the 
tread of om- boots. Indeed, in the Japanese private 
houses, they put off their shoes in a small area before tread- 
ing upon the clean, neatly matted floor. One side of the 
upper end of this hall was screened off by a folded screen 
of gilded paper, and to the left of this we entered a light 
and airy room, almost toy-Hke in its delicate structure, 
and the superlative of Japanese nicety. The jDeculiar, 
soft, white wood used for the posts, ceiling joists, and 
window-frames, smoothly worked, was fresh and un- 
painted. Whenever bolt-heads came through, they were 
covered with neatly chased hexagonal brass nuts. The 
floor joists over head Avere exceedingly delicate — not 
thicker than the wrist. Light window-frames, covered 
with a silky, white, semi-transparent paper, formed the win- 
dows, but these were now freely opened to admit the air. 
The dead wall of the room was covered by a deficate 
light-colored, figured paper. Dot^ti the centre of the 
room were two lines of benches, with a red serge framed 
tightly over them. In front of one row of these benches 
were low tables, and upon each table a black lacquered 
tray, upon which lay two new, long-stemmed, brass pipes, 
a porcelain cup with fire, another for ashes, and a small 
lacquered box of tobacco. 

A new Governor, we were informed, had just arrived 
from Yedo ; in fact, an oflicer of high rank, especially 
commissioned for the cii'cumstances of our case. 

We were met at the entrance of this room by the Gov- 
ernors and their suite, and in\dted to the seats in front of 
the low table. The Japanese oflicers placed themselves, 
with their limbs bent under them, on the benches oppo- 
site ; back of these was a row of inferior persons, note- 
takers, etc., and on the floor, at a distant end of the room, 
was a throng of domestics, all similarly resting upon their 
bended legs. These domestics appeared, from their cos- 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 311 

tume and swords, to be young men of rank. At the 
upper end of the space "between the Japanese officials and 
ourselves, was the raised seat of the interpreter, who, in 
this instance, appeared to be a gentleman of rank — the 
intelligent, polished, and courteous Moriamna. Thus 
placed, the council was ready. The servants immedi- 
ately set before us porcelain cups of tea on small lacquer 
stands, and the talk began. 

The Governors opened in Japanese. Moriamna bowed 
his head toward them, and at the conclusion of the speech, 
gave his head a lower inclination, and, turning to Mr. 
Heuskin, who sat next the Consul General, delivered the 
message in Dutch ; this gentleman again delivered it in 
EngUsh. It was an inquiry after the health and well be- 
ing of General Pierce. This being appropriately answered, 
another message came through the same channels — an 
inquiry after the health of the Consul General. Then the 
same ceremony in regard to the Commodore, and, finally, 
in regard to all of us. This important courtesy having 
been duly reciprocated, and the new Governor having in- 
formed us that he was very much broken and worn with 
his journey from Yedo, and I having ofiered my pro- 
fessional services to restore him to a state of health and 
vigor, some beautiful confectionery was placed before each 
of us, every parcel precisely alike. There were two oval 
cakes of sugar and rice-flour, one white and one pink, 
beautifully molded with flowers, resting against candies 
formed like the plume of a Highland bonnet, and these 
again supported by a scroll of candy. There was also a 
square mass of greenish jelly, sanded over with sugar- 
plums. With the parcel was a piece of thin, fine, silky 
paper, as strong as cloth itself, and a bundle of long 
filaments, some white and some red, bound together in 
the middle by a band of thin silvery metal. I, at first, 
thought these long threads were a kind of flexible candy. 



312 • IN CHINA. 

It is a Japanese custom for each guest to have sent with 
him a part of the feast of which he has partaken, and the 
ornamental part was intended to be borne away, the 
strong paper to wrap it in, and the white and red filaments 
were paper twine to bind the parcel. 

All this ceremonial conversation, though it had amount- 
ed to nothing, going through so many languages, had used 
up the morning. After this confectionary we were served 
with a lacquer tray placed before each gentleman, and 
containing several fine lacquer-covered cups of soup of 
various kinds — fish-soup, egg-soup, vermicelli, craw^fish. 
There were also small lacquer plates of delicious fried eels, 
and others of pickles. The plate of each guest had pre- 
cisely the same articles, of the same size and shape, and 
the same arrangement. The implements for conveying 
this food to our mouths were two smooth new white 
chopsticks, and one thin small black lacquer fork. The 
Japanese were amused at our awkwardness, and very kind- 
ly offered to show us the mode of using these novel tools. 
During the feast, it was announced through the inter- 
preters, that the new governor was an ofiicer who had 
come from Yedo, with full powers to enter into any nego- 
tiations with the Consul General which might be neces- 
sary. They seemed disposed to enter upon business 
immediately, and said, " They knew very well that the 
treaty provided for the residence of a consul at Si- 
moda, whenever either nation might think it necessary. 
What," they asked, "renders it necessary now?" Mr. 
Harris replied that he was not in the secrets of his gov- 
ernment, and could not say why it had availed itself of 
the treaty to send a consul general to Japan. This reply 
having gone back, they then said, " We know you can- 
not be in the secrets of your government ; but we think 
you must know the particular reason why you have been 
sent here." 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 313 

Mr. Harris said lie could only reply that he came nnder 
the treaty for such duties as are exercised by consuls in 
other countries — to provide for shipwrecked and dis- 
tressed seamen, to decide differences between the com- 
mander and men of ships, and to prevent our lawless 
sailors from violating Japanese laws. This did not seem 
to satisfy them, and they answered that by the treaty 
they had agreed to treat kindly shipwi'ecked seamen, 
and unless there was a doubt of their sincerity, a resident 
consul was unnecessary. 

They then turned to the Commodore, and asked if he 
had any power to treat respecting the residence of the 
Consul General. He replied, " Kone at all ;" he com- 
manded the military, and had received orders to bring Mr. 
Harris to Simoda, and, he added emphatically, "leave 
him there." They then inquired of the Commodore if 
he knew any reasons why Mr. Harris had been sent there? 
He answered, none other than the provision of the treaty. 
He was next asked if he did not think it would be better 
to receive a statement of their reasons for not receiving 
Mr. Harris, and take him away until some future time 
when more urgent reasons might exist. The Commodore 
replied that he had no discretion but to obey his orders. 
They asked if he would take a communication from them 
to the United States government. He would, he said, 
take any thing, but it must come through Mr. Harris. 
Some little difference had arisen during the conference 
as to the reading of a clause of the treaty. The Japanese 
had their copy before them. Mr. Harris remarked to 
them that this was a visit of ceremony, a call of the Com- 
modore upon the Governors, and not one of business ; that 
he had not come prepared for any negotiation, but would 
meet them at any time they might appoint for that 
purpose. 

The Japanese functionaries, however, seemed to be 
14 



314 - IN CHINA. 

like men who had an appointed task, and were anxious 
to rid themselves of it. They would frequently, before 
putting a question or proposition, read from a paper, 
which one of them kept before him ; and during what ap- 
peared to us must be to them the most earnest and in- 
teresting part of the discussion, they would converse in a 
pleasant, smiling manner with each other, and the most 
earnest arguments passed through Moriamna, without 
in the least disturbing the placidity of his countenance, 
or ruffling the courtesy of his demeanor. It was prob- 
able that these officials had instructions from the im- 
perial government to get rid of the American Consul 
General if they could without an infraction of treaty ob- 
ligations, and if they could not, to make the best of the 
circumstances. 

After this skirmishing had been protracted for some 
hours, and they found no diversion in their favor could 
be expected from the Commodore, they apologized for 
having detained him so long, and suggested that he and 
the officers might at their pleasure take their leave, but 
would be glad if Mr. Harris and his secretary would 
remain and continue the negotiation. This was assented 
to. Mr. Harris requested me to remain over with him. 
The remainder of our party took their leave, accompanied 
by attendants, carrying their bundles of confectionery. 
After we had resumed our seats and refilled our pipes, 
the conversation was resumed by their stating general 
objections to receiving a Consul General. They said that 
Simoda had suffered very much by earthquakes ; and if 
an American Consul came, a Russian and a French one 
might come, and this would involve a great deal of 
trouble and expense. 

They were told that Simoda was the place of their own 
appointing, that any agreement they had with the Rus- 
sian and French was of their own volition, and should not 



A LOOK AT JAPAJSr. 315 

interfere with our admitted claims, and that no expense 
would be imposed upon them by our consulate, which 
bore its own expenses. It was then objected that there 
were additional articles appended to the treaty which 
had not been ratified, that when these articles were rati- 
fied, an ambassador would come out with them, and after 
that, it would be time enough to receive a consul. It was 
replied that those articles were merely explanatory of the 
treaty and needed no ratification ; but that if they were, 
no ambassador would come with them, as they would be 
sent to the Consul General ; and this was another of his 
functions, the transmission of communications of his own 
. government to that of Japan. They now said they would 
receive Mr. Harris temporarily, and as there were no 
quarters suitable for him, they would accommodate him 
in the temple at the opposite village ; but they would in 
the meantime forward their objections to our government, 
and asked if he would forward such a communication. 
Mr. Harris said, certainly, he was bound to forward such 
communications, even if they were complaints against 
himself. The inquiry was now made as to whether a 
verbal request of the Governors, addressed to the United 
States Secretary of State, would not be sufiicient, and Mr. 
Harris told them no. They had a written communication 
n'omMr. Marcy, the Secretary of State, and it was usual 
with western nations to acknowledge such communications 
in writing. This had not been done. They replied, it was 
not a Japanese custom, and as a high officer had been 
sent to receive the Consul General and to make a verbal 
communication to the United States through him, they 
thought this sufficient, (I understood them to intimate 
the most respectful mode.) They suggested that a writ- 
ten communication from the two Governors would be 
all that was necessary ; but were told that the Secretary 
of State only corresponded w^ith supreme governments. 



316 ' IN CH IN A. 

and no request preferred by any subordinates would re- 
ceive any attention. They said Mr. Marcy's letter said 
Mr. Harris was to enter into new negotiations, and they 
wanted to know what these negotiations were. Here 
was the secret of their j^erseverance in asking what were 
the reasons of Mr. Harris's coming, and showed their 
dread of new business and demands being thrust upon 
them, and they were evidently little suprised at being in- 
formed that this was merely a general allusion to such 
business as might arise in the future, and had in view no 
definite point at the present time. In stating this, Mr. 
Harris instanced that he might open negotiations for a 
change of consular residence to some other places. This 
gave a little uneasiness, and they asked, at once, if any 
such changes would be made by him without the sanction 
of the Japanese government. He told them, certainly not, 
it must be a matter of mutual negotiation and consent. 

During all this long, triply-translated discussion, there 
were as many changes of cloud and sunshine as mark an 
April day ; but as the business drew toward a close, and 
difficulties gradually disappeared, the sunshine of cheer- 
fulness and good humor rested abidingly upon us all. 
The Japanese felt the satisfaction of men who had done 
their duty, and the Consul General had done his, and ac- 
complished his ends. I, having nothing to do but look on^ 
had smoked comfortable pipes of mild tobacco, and drank 
small cups of sweet saki, and kept as calm and placid as 
Moriamna himself. 

The Japanese finally remarked that Mr. Marcy's letter 
said the consul was treated with the same consideration 
and granted the same privileges as were usual among civ- 
ilized nations. They said they were entirely ignorant as 
to what these were, and would be glad to be informed. 
This was done. They made frequent apologies, during 
the negotiation, for its length, the necessary tediousness 



A LOOK AT JAPAN, 317 

of translating, and hoped that no offense would be taken 
at any of the questions, as they were ignorant upon the 
subjects under discussion, and asked many things only for 
information. We offered them the most positive assur- 
ances that we were delighted with their urbanity and glad 
to answer all their inquiries. They hoped that Mr. Har- 
ris would not object to their visiting him when he got 
settled, and talking over matters in his own residence. 
Upon the contrary, Mr. Harris would only be too happy 
to see them at any time, socially and on business, and 
they in turn assured Mr. Harris that every thing should 
be done to aid him in making himself comfortable ; and 
amid smiles and bows we parted company for the day. 

The Commodore, previous to his departure, had invited 
the Governors and their suites to visit our ship on the 
coming day. They came off, to the number, attendants, 
sword-bearers and all, of about thirty. They partook 
freely and with great zest of the entertainment set before 
them ; ate ham, tongue, cold chicken, lobster-salad, hard 
bread, soft bread and cake ; drank ale, white wine, cham- 
pagne, brandy ; laughed, talked merrily, jested and played 
practical jokes. Mustard and sweet oil seemed curiosi- 
ties to them, but they used them freely. I mention these 
things to show that their natural appetites do not confine 
them to rice alone, and that they are glad to throw off 
official stiffness and reserve. The feast being ended, they 
drew from the folds of their fine silks, squares of paper, 
in which, after asking permission, they wrapped up frag- 
mentary specimens of their entertainment. They partook 
of our viands with a comjDlimentary vigor which chop- 
sticks alone would not supply; and though they left us, 
gentlemanly and proper in deportment, their gleaming 
eyes and rubicund noses were inconsistent with the sup- 
position of totally abstinent principles. 



318 • IN C HIN A. 

For their entertainment the crew Lad been exercised 
at quarters. 

During these exchanges of hosjDitality business had not 
been neglected. The Jajianese had been industriously 
preparing the allotted temple for the reception of the Con- 
sul Genera], and our carpenters had been actively pre- 
paring a suitable flag-staff for the first American flag which 
was to fly as a permanent emblem on the shores of Japan. 

Soon after the departure of our Japanese guests, the 
Consul General and his secretary took their final leave of 
our ship ; and early on Wednesday morning, SejDtember 
3d, the Captain, Boatswain and Carpenter went ashore to 
raise this memorable and now completed staff. The tem- 
ple before which it was to be planted stood in a nook of 
the mountain a little back of the village. Its roof could 
be seen rising against the dark-green background, some- 
what above the houses of the village. An accident hap- 
pened in the first attempt to raise the pole. It fell, break- 
ing the cross-trees, so that new ones had to be made. 
Those who read omens, and read them gloomily, might 
interpret this into one of bad significance ; but early in 
the afternoon the flag-staff, perfect in all its parts, rose 
triumphantly to its j^lace, and we saw from our ship the 
stars and stripes fluttering in the breeze before the Japan- 
ese temple — the Consul General having the satisfaction of 
running it up with his own hand. May it there be the em- 
blem of the final triumj^h of our country and its policy over 
all preceding obstacles, disappointments and difiiculties. 

This event accomplished, our working party returned 
to the ship, and we immediately got under way, exchang- 
ing a parting salute with the Consul General by a mutual 
dipping (slightly lowering and hoisting) of the ensigns. 
As we stood out to sea and left our flag waving among 
the trees on the shores of this sealed empire, it was a sight 
suggesting many speculations into the far future, and 



A LOOK AT JAPAN. 319 

reaching even beyond a period when, as has been sug- 
gested, these isles of Japan may be to the nations of the 
Pacific what those of Great Britain are to Europe. 

It is almost amusing to see the minute precision with 
which the Japanese carry out their treaty stipulations. 

They agree to furnish us provisions, and hence the gov- 
ernment itself undertakes the supply, and sent us fowls, 
which, by the way, were yellow and hard, as if lacquer 
was diffused through their substance. 

They agree to furnish us coal, and there was the coal 
when we arrived all nicely done up in sacks on the wharf; 
and first-rate coal it was, the best we had used during the 
cruise. We were to be permitted to trade, and here was 
the government Goyosho, vsdth its splendid collection of 
lacquered wares, kept ready for the arrival of our ships. 
They agreed to receive a consul, and although, when he 
came, they did not regard him as a very acceptable addi- 
tion to the empire, yet we left him and his flag success- 
fully planted on the beach at Simoda. 

By some mistake or oversight in the Perry treaty, our 
money, in relation with that of Japan, was depreciated 
two thirds. As one of the good results of Mr. Harris's 
residence, this mistake has been corrected, and Count 
Pontiatine, the Russian envoy who visited there since this 
arrangement, told me that he had made contracts with 
them before the change of valuation in foreign silver, but 
this was effected before he made his payments. He of- 
fered to pay them at the valuation which existed when 
his contracts were made, but they insisted on receiving 
only the one third. 

I am sorry to testify that their modesty is not equal to 
their honesty, as Simoda is provided with public bathing- 
houses in which both sexes meet fi^eely, and in the public 
eye, without any incumberings of costume. 

In most beautiful weather we steamed away from Si- 



•320 IN CHINA. 

moda and down the green mountain shores of Japan, an 
object of great curiosity to the Japanese cruising off the 
land in theu' junks, and as the San Jacmto's dark body- 
foamed through the waters without a sail set, and rolling 
forth volumes of black smoke, she presented a sight for 
many an evening's future gossip in the mountain villages. 



XXVI. 

SHANaHAK 



When we left the south of China, floods, we saw, were 
drowning out the people, overflowing their fields, and 
destroying their rice. In the north, in the vicinity of 
Shanghae, parching drought produced the same desolation, 
and as we passed through the Yellow Sea we had the evi- 
dence of this drought in the clouds of locusts which dark- 
ened the air — destruction born of destruction. We were 
surrounded by them. Although the breeze was not fresh, 
these insects seemed to have no control of themselves. 
Some were moving sideways in their struggle with the 
wind, and some with fluttering wings ridiculously moving 
backwards. They fell in great numbers upon our decks, 
and invaded our apartments below. 

The drought had lasted all the summer, notwithstand- 
ing all the expedients resorted to by the people and the 
authorities to brino; it to an end. Even the followino: 
were not of any avail : 

" The military intendant (the tan-tai) and the chief 
magistrate of this district (the cM-hieii) go daily in per- 
son, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, first 
to the temple of the Guardian Deity of the city wdthin 
the walls, and then to the pavilion of the Three Magnates, 
situated outside the south gate of the city, to pray to the 



SHANGHAE. 321 

gods, to communicate to Heaven's court (these their pe- 
titions, so that the Heavenly Powers) shall speedily send 
down genial showers, and moisten the earth below. They 
have also issued orders, strictly forbidding the people to 
slaughter any living creatures, until after plentiful show- 
ers shall have fallen. * 

" Among the people resident in the city, each family 
now keeps erected at the front door of the house a tablet, 
on which is inscribed — 

"to the DRAaON KINa OF THE FIVE LAKES AND THE FOUR SEAS. 

" Before this tablet, on an altar of incense, they lay out 
their sacrificial offerings to propitiate the gods. Close 
by theu^ doors they also set up small yellow flags, on which 
they have had written sentences like the following : 

" * "With sincerity of the heart we pray that abundance of rain may 
descend.' " 

A PRO CL AM ATION. 

" This year a literary gentleman by the name of II%t^ 
belonging to the department of Tsing-chau in Shantung, 
on the third day after he had died rose to life again, 
and said he had seen the holy sovereign Prince, Kwan^ 
who delivered the following Mandatory Instructions, viz., 

" The judgments of Heaven are now going abroad, and 
this year, either by the sword and soldiers, or by disease 
and sickness, eight or nine tenths of the people are to 
perish. If, however, they will engage and depend on 
the Great Mistress of the Southern Sea and the Great 
White Star Prince, then these two divinities will interpose 
their strength to effect a deliverance, will scrutinize the 
good and evil deeds of the people, and if they find these 
nearly balanced, then the threatened judgments from 
Heaven shall in some degree be diminished. 

" On the 9th, 19th, and 29th of each month, the peo- 
ple must burn incense toward the south ; and kneeling 

14* 



822 INCHIT^A. 

and worshiping, they must swear that they will be true 
and faithful, dutiful to their parents and aifectionate to 
their brothers ; and likewise will abstain from the slaugh- 
ter of all living creatures, and perform rightly every ap- 
propriate duty ; then their petitions may be heard, and 
j^ardon and indulgence granted to them. 

" If they will write out and circulate a single copy of 
these instructions, a single person shall have protection ; 
if ten copies, then a whole family shall have protection ; 
and if a hundred, then a whole neighborhood. On the 
other hand, if knowing these instructions they will not 
circulate them, then they shall perish, and so receive the 
punishments their sins deserve. 

" Written and circulated on the 6th day of the 6th 
month of the 6th year of Hienfung (July Vth, 1856)." 

The mode of one's introduction to person or place has 
ever much to do with our estimate of his or its character, 
so little is our judgment independent of circumstances im- 
perceptibly influencing it. That large and influential 
portion of the body, which manages the business of our 
daily existence, is not disposed to yield the influence of 
its practical importance and coarse avocations to the aris- 
tocratic importance of the head and heart. 

As good dinner tables make agreeable comj^anions and 
give eloquence to diplomatic arguments, so an abundant 
and choice supply of provender wins one to speak kindly 
of the locahty in which it is found. If any one who 
knows the place thinks my estimate of Shanghae enthu- 
siastic and not sufficiently moderated by the evil I may 
speak of it, let him consider the circumstances under 
which I first made its acquaintance. 

In October, 1856, we had, with the exception of a few 
days in Japan, been a year wilting, wearing and wearying 
amid tropical and summer heats — diluting our vapid ex- 



SHANGHAE. 323 

istence with weak and insipid fruits. With tlie prep- 
aration of these experiences we came to the refreshing 
and invigorating coolness of the autumn atmosphere of 
Shanghae. Although the locust flight seemed unfavor- 
able, that ended a day or two after our arrival, and rain 
came on. There was an eloquence which spoke of home, 
in the putting down of woolen carpets, and the putting 
up of stoves and winter curtains in the houses of our new 
but hospitable friends. The agreeable associations were 
continued in the streets, where we met long-cued China- 
men vending strings of wild pigeons, wild ducks, snipe 
and golden-necked pheasants. In such a relation the 
Chinamen looked picturesque, and in one's heart arose an 
argument for the unity of race, founded on the sympathy 
of " Foreign Devil" and " Celestial" for such respectable 
birds — the more respectable when introduced to us, as they 
Avere, assoiated with the hospitality of our resident coun- 
trymen ; and continued m my acquaintance in the agreeable 
home to which I was welcomed by Mr. F. D. Williams. 

Shanghae comes upon one as a magical creation — that is, 
upon one no better informed than I was in regard to it, 
and few can be familiar with it, for the place is just born. 
Most of us are accustomed to the rapidity with which cities 
spring up in our new West. But even in the genial and 
fertile atmosphere of" Young America," and with the stim- 
ulants of progression, they have the modesty to start vrith 
the infantile existence of villages ; but Shanghae, as a city 
of foreigners, seems to have sprung at once into adult pala- 
tial strength and glory. Twelve years ago the place of 
which I am now writing was a swam]3, dotted over with 
filthy bamboo-built Chinese hovels. Now, for a mile 
along the gentle curve of a broad river, by nearly the 
same extent in breadth, is a city of large, commodious 
and elegant residences. These houses are generally built 
in what is called a , " compound," a wall-enclosed plat of 



324 • IN CHINA. 

garden and shubbery — the walls forming the boundaries 
of the streets, which are opened upon by carriage gates, 
guarded by porters' lodges. The streets themselves are 
of comfortable width, neat and clean, and bearing such 
significant, wholesome, intelligible names as " Mission 
Street," "Church Street," "Bridge Street," "Custom 
House Lane," painted on the corners. A sense of secur- 
ity is given by the appearance, in all parts of the town, 
of a uniformed foreign police. 

The " Bund," a wide, pleasant promenade and carriage 
drive, curves along the river's bank in front of the city, 
and is active during the early hours of the day with busi- 
ness, and cheerful in the afternoon with equestrians, car- 
riages and promenaders. The river itself, at each of our 
visits to Shanghae, was crowded with shipping, chiefly 
bearing the flags of England and America, but with a 
sprinkling of those of other nations — the elephant ban- 
ner of Siam being among the more numerous, and indi- 
cating the growing trade between these countries. Ten 
of our own beautiful clippers, of over a thousand tons 
each, graced the harbor at the time of this our first visit. 

The part of the foreign settlement of Shanghae at 
which we have now glanced, although made up of all 
nations, is called the " English Settlement." It extends 
from the Yan-kin-pang creek on the south, down the 
river to Su-chau creek, or Woosung river, on the north. 
Crossing Su-chau creek, the shore runs almost at right 
angles to its former direction, and here, with an indefinite 
limit of expansion in all directions, is what is called the 
" American Settlement," so called, I presume, because it 
is the location of the American Episcopal, and part of 
the American Presbyterian mission, being also, accident- 
ally, the residence of the American consul. Again, above 
the " Eno^lish," or central settlement, from the south 
shore of the Yan-kin-pang creek to the walls of the old 



SHANGHAE. 325 

Chinese city of Shanghae, is a waste of sparsely settled 
territory, over which flies the French flag, called the 
*' French Community," and particularly ticketed in its na- 
tionality by a sign-board, labeled " La Concession Fran- 
gaise." 

These national designations are instructive, as showing 
the narrow and exclusive spirit in which a little band of 
foreigners will attempt to perpetuate their peculiarities 
and divisions upon the little spot of the empire of China 
upon which they have planted themselves ; instructive, 
also, as showing how such bigotry is swept away by the 
broad stream of a common necessity and a common pros- 
perity. In the first settlement of this foreign commu- 
nity, the British authorities, somehow, from habit, per- 
haps, had the idea that the exclusive jurisdiction centered 
in them ; and it was required that all the purchasers of 
property from the original Chinese owners should have 
their deeds made out and registered at the British con- 
sulate. These deeds contained a clause saying that the 
property was to be held subject to the regulations of the 
British consulate. IsTo one paid much attention to the 
meaning of this provision, thinking it was all a matter of 
course ; but one of these regulations was, that none but 
the Eughsh flag should fly upon this territory. 

Messrs. Griswold and Cunningham, two members of 
the American house of Russell & Co., held, in succession, 
the office of United States consul, and had the firmness 
and spirit to resist these pretensions. The former gen- 
tleman planted a tall flag-stafi", and from it he flew the 
flag of his consulate. The British consul ordered it to 
be hauled down, which was refused. Subsequently Mr. 
Cunningham, being consul, informed his countrymen that 
these deeds need not pass through the British consular 
office, but through that of the United States. This con- 
troversy, as far as I could learn, was carried on in no im- 



826 IN CHINA. 

proper or captious spirit, but that of functionaries who 
gave each other credit for convictions of right. It was 
referred by the British consul to his home government 
for decision, and that government, in a just and expedi- 
ent view of the case, assented to the claims of the United 
States consuls. The result is the elegant and prosperous 
city which has so rapidly sprung into existence, and over 
which, since that contest, fly the flags of many nations. 

It was said that the French consul, at this day, insists 
upon some such exclusive jurisdiction over " La Conces- 
sion Francaise." With the teaching of this past experi- 
ence before him, one can hardly credit such a statement. 
If any demand for occupying the French Concession arises, 
of course such pretension must yield to it ; and unless 
French commerce increases beyond its now two or three 
ships a year, that exclusive territory must remain a waste. 
One patriotic French house has now sate itself down in 
the " Concession," and, notwithstanding all its attractions 
of French importations, one may live, as many do, a long 
time in Shanghae, and not hear of its existence. 

There are only about four hundred foreigners in this 
whole settlement ; but there are more than twenty thou- 
sand Chinese, who have built or rented European houses 
in this foreign settlement, and come under the govern- 
ment of the foreigners, who, by a mixed council, control 
the whole place. Natives guilty of ofienses are sent in to 
the rulers of the native city for punishment, and there is 
nothing they dread so much, preferring to trust them- 
selves to foreign retribution. 

We have had this chat about Shanghae, if near the 
Bund, amid bustHng scenes and noisy cries — cries from 
the boats, cargo-boats, and others on the river — cries 
from the vendors of fruits, cakes, and confectionery, on 
shore ; but, above all, on every hand, turning every cor- 
ner, up and down every street, there comes upon our ears 



SHANGHAE. 327 

the wail, " A-lioo ! — a-hoo ! — a-hoo !" — t"he cry of the 
laboring coolies, who, with the bowed staff on their 
shoulders, and a burden on each end, are hurrying along 
with tottering steps, and an expression in this cry as 
though the breath was being pressed from their bodies at 
every step. And, from the weight of their burdens, this 
might well be the case, for all cargoes are transported to 
and from the wharves and warehouses by men. The loco- 
motion of foreigners, and of most Chinese above the rank 
of laborers, is done in sedan-chairs upon men's shoulders. 
N"© burden vehicles or horses are seen, those of the Bund 
being mere displays of luxury. Human labor is cheaper 
than that of horses or machinery. A striking illustration 
of this fact was seen in the docking of ships. Instead of 
shutting the water out by gates, when a ship had entered 
the dock and the tide has passed out, from seventy-five 
to a hundred Chinamen, passing balls of clay from hand 
to hand, keep ahead of the coming tide, banking out 
the river and shutting in the dock. All of this, of 
course, must be dug out again, to permit the exit of the 
ship. 

Adjoining this foreign settlement of Shanghae, shut in 
by dark, gloomy granite walls, thirty feet high, is the old, 
or Chinese city. The approaches and the entrance to it 
arc most repulsive. On each side of the streets leading 
to the gates are grouped most disgusting, deformed, wail- 
ing and howling beggars. The details of the condition 
and appearance of these wretches would be too repulsive 
for narration. I have known persons deterred from enter- 
ing the city by the horror of encountering these sights. 
I will merely mention that a common deformity, and one 
of the least offensive, is that of persons who have lost 
their feet at the ankle joint, by the attempt to bandage 
them into littleness. The common impression among 
foreigners is, that Chinese have no sympathy with each 



328 • IN CHINA. 

other's sufferings ; but these congregations of beggars, 
placed in the thoroughfare of this Chinese city, must get 
their assistance from their countrymen ; indeed, some of 
them have appeals, written in Chinese characters, spread 
out before them. 

The gates are low arched channels, passing through 
the thickness of the city wall and . embankment about 
thirty feet, and looking like the entrance to sewers. The 
streets are the sewers themselves, being about eight feet 
wide, and thronged with opposing currents of the people, 
whilst before and behind you are heard the shouts of 
burden or sedan-chair coolies, calling upon you to clear 
the track, to press close into the houses while they pass. 
In all this the humble coolie is authoritative, and sure to 
be submissively obeyed, as, unless you are prompt in get- 
ting out of his way, a chair-pole may knock you down, 
or you may be bespattered from buckets of filth, which 
would associate you most offensively with Chinese. 

It is difficult to give an idea of the filth of this city. 
The sublimity of the spectacle of the decapitation at 
one time of hundreds of human beings, as frequently 
happens in China, will attract those whose sensibilities 
would shrink from a single execution, so there is almost 
an attraction m the exaggeration of the foulness of this 
place. It is dramatic — a spectacle to be looked on in 
wonder. It goes beyond the scope of an uneducated 
imagination, and fascinates one by daring their senses 
and powers of endurance, leaving a feeling of heroism 
after having successfully encountered the ordeal, as 
though a hydra had been overcome. Among the pecu- 
liarly disagreeable sights are the criminals exposed lying 
on the ground, in corners of the streets, with their necks 
in the cangue — a heavy wooden square, about three feet 
broad, with a hole in the centre, through wliich the head 
is placed, the cangue resting on the shoulders like a col- 



SHANGHAE. 329 

lar. Thus confined, the criminal lies in the surrounding 
filth on the ground, exposed to swarms of flies and in- 
sects, to the hot sun of the hot weather, and to the eyes 
of the public. 

Among the attractions of Shanghae are the tea-gardens, 
a collection of artificial lakes, ponds, walks, grottoes, 
mountains, temples, pleasure-houses, with small picturesque 
bridges thrown over the streams connecting the lakes and 
ponds. It would naturally be supposed that the taste which 
could demand such a place of recreation and resort, would 
be sufficiently refined to make some approach to neatness 
and decency. It may, however, have seen more decent days; 
at present it is dirty, dark and decayed. Its waters are 
stagnant green pools. It seems given up to fortune-tellers, 
conjurors, quack doctors, obscene showmen, lazzaroni, 
loafers and rowdies. There, are, however, several attrac- 
tive curio and painted fan stores in the tea-gardens ; and 
on a festive day, when the people are in their more showy 
garb, the crowds in this place, the clanging of gongs and 
exploding of crackers, amid which the showmen, the tum- 
blers, and the conjurors are busy, make it a characteristic 
scene of Chinese animation. I once visited this place when 
it was thronged with people upon the occasion of an eclipse 
of the sun. The authorities were assembled in the great 
temple, and the gods of the temple were placed out in its 
front. The din of gongs was terrific, the purpose being 
to frighten away the dragon who was devouring the sun. 
So far as the authorities were engaged in the aflTair, I pre- 
sume it was merely a concession to popular superstition, 
as the astronomical knowledge of those of sufficient Hter- 
ary attainments to be in authority, would forbid any such 
delusion. Indeed, this very eclipse had been calculated 
with much accuracy by a native. 

About two hundred thousand is supposed to be the 
present native population of Shanghae. A large trade is 



330 



IN CHINA. 



carried on with the interior, and junks from distant prov- 
inces are moored in front of the city, with water avenues 
between them, their masts looking like a thicket stripped 
of its leaves. It is the sea-port of the large manufacturing 
city of Suchow, distant about eighty miles ; and the heavy 
silks, satins, embroideries, lacquer ware, and inlaid work 
of Suchow, give richness and elegance to the native stores 
of Shanghae. In the fall and winter seasons the fur 
stores are also attractive from the variety and richness of 
their wares, brought in from the Russian settlements. By 
a sumptuary law certain furs are only permitted to be worn 
by mandarins of a high rank ; and what is called a robe, 
sufficient to cover the body back and front to the knees, 
sells for from one to five hundred dollars, according to 
genuineness and quality. A respectable Chinese citizen's 
winter wardrobe is very expensive, costing from one to 
two thousand dollars. 

The great commercial prosperity of Shanghae, and the 
legitimate relations which the western nations have with 
it, are dependent upon its tea and silk trade. The follow- 
ing tables taken from the North China Herald^ will exhib- 
it the extent, nature and prospects of the trade of Shang- 
hae. 



COMPAEATTSTE STATEMENT OF THE EXPOET OF TeA AND SiLK FEOM THE POET OF 

Shanghae, dueing the Yeaes lS54r-55, 1855-56, and 1856-57. 
TEA. 





1854-55. 


1855-56. 


1856-57. 




Black. 

Ihs. 


Green. 
Ihs. 


Black. 

lbs. 


Green. 
lbs. 


Black. 

lbs. 


Green. 
lbs. 


To G. Britain. 
" Australia... 
" N. A Colon. 
" Continent.. 
" U. States. . 


39,586,059 

2,798,548 

814,852 

1,031.784 

1,154,573 


10,428,036 

1,250,431 

419,659 

152,995 

22,584,308 


24,068,430 
3,197,172 

960,229 
289,442 


8,543,424 

543,340 

375,680 

71,712 

20,650,537 


10,607,084 
286,144 

1,105,905 
381,553 


10,794,487 
184,576 
275,0:6 
303,043 

16,886,572 




45,385,816 


34,835,429 


29,115,273 


30,184,693 


12,470,686 


25,443,704 



SHANGHAE. 



331 



SILK. 





1854-55. 


1855-56. 


1856-57. 




1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


^ 

K 

3 


i 
s 

42 
•2 


18 


o 


j 


^ 


^ 
f^ 


j 


ToG.Wn.dirH 

" Hong Kong 

" U. States... 


38,28T 
5,424 


5,293 

3,838 


755 

755 


368 

368 


53 
53 


36,300 
9,206 

1,188 


4,961 

4,835 


903 
26 


50,304 
27,255 
1,632 


2,418 
8,261 


1,598 
262 


405 
20 
5 


93 

209 


Bales 


,43,Tll 


9,L31 


46,694 


9,796 


929 


44 


18 


79,191 tl0,679 


1,860 


430 302 



In 1855, the money value of exports from Shanghae was 
£12,603,540, an cl of the imports fromallsources£'7,193,023, 
of which £2,335,017 was specie, and £3,174,949 was opium, 
leaving only £1,683,057 worth of manufactures and other 
products. 

The principal green tea district finds its market and 
port of export at Shanghae, as do also the silk districts. 
It is sufficiently convenient to the black tea districts ; 
though at present these find their chief market at Foo 
Chow. 

Shanghae maintains its present commercial prosperity 
against great disadvantages. The first and principal dif- 
ficulty is in the currency. It forms a substantial answer 
to the question, " What 's in a name ?" According to the 
name covering the same value of silver, there was a very 
large percentage of value, at the time of our visit. A good, 
honest, respectable Mexican dollar, in shopping transac- 
tions, would only buy se!^enty-five cents' worth of goods ; 
a " Carolus," or full-dressed "Ferdinand," would buy 
double as much ; and in exchanging " Carolus" dollars 
for bills on London, each one was worth one dollar and 
seventy-five cents — the fictitious value of the " Carolus" 
being added to the diff'erence of exchange caused by the 
above stated disproportion between exports and imports. 

When teas and silks have to be paid for at such a rate 
of exchange, and, in every other portion of the empire at 



832 ^ INCHINA. 

vvliich we trade — at each of the five ports — there is only 
the diflerence of exchaoge, the discrimmation agamst 
Shanghae may bo estimated, and is evidently very great. 
There have been many efforts made by Chinese authori- 
ties, and by the foreign merchants, to arrange this difficulty, 
but they have all gone to prove the power of a national 
prejudice over a national policy. The interior men — the 
tea and silk cultivators — will take nothing but the " Ca- 
rolus," and add to the evil by hoarding them, and thus 
withdrawing them from circulation. I have heard it sup- 
posed there were as many " Carolus" dollars buried under 
the ground as there were in circulation above it. Attempts 
have been made to imitate this dollar, giving equal weight 
and purity of silver, but as yet no such attempts have been 
successful. Of course, such an artificial and unnatural 
state of affairs could not be permanent. At my visit to 
Shanghae in the fall of 1857, the Carolus dollar had almost 
disappeared, and the currency was sycee — bar silver — the 
tael of sycee being worth the dollar of one hundred cents ; 
values and prices were all estimated in taels, though gen- 
erally paid for, except in large transactions, in Mexicans 
at seventy-five cents. 

The other fact adverse to the fullest prosperity of Shang- 
hae is, that it is a port of compelled honesty, while in the 
other ports that virtue is left to the discretion and inter- 
est of the parties concerned. The Chinese authorities, 
when they discovered that a kirge and growing com- 
merce was to be carried on between their peo^Dle and for- 
eigners, at this port, with a sagacious regard for their own 
interests, and, at the same time, in a spirit of liberality 
and justice, authorized the establishment of a foreign in 
spectorate of customs ; each treaty power was to appoint 
one of its citizens an inspector, and jointly they were to 
arrange all matters of duties and fees between foreigners 
and the Chinese authorities, were to advise and direct the 



SHAJS^GHAE. 333 

Chinese in all these matters to which they were so unac- 
customed. To carry out this arrangement the native au- 
thorities gave the inspectors liberal salaries, commodious 
accommodations, and an ample corps of native and for- 
eign assistants, with a revenue-cutter, armed, manned and 
officered according to agreement. 

Chinese custom-houses are said to be peculiarly admin- 
istered in bribery and corruption, so that a small portion 
of the just duties are paid, and of this small portion, a 
very limited sum passes the pockets of the officials who 
receive it, to the government treasury. If such be the fact 
where Chinese are concerned with Chinese, over all of 
whom the authorities have such despotic control, it is easy 
to see that should foreigners unworthily enter into such 
arrangements for defrauding the revenue, there would be 
still less chance of redress ; hence committing these for- 
eign revenue interests to a corps of well-paid and com- 
petent foreigners having no interests in trade, and respon- 
sible both to their own consuls and to the Chinese authori- 
ties, was, on the part of those authorities, a wise measure ; 
but of course it puts Shanghae to the disadvantage of 
being in the bonds of official honesty, while the sister 
ports are left to the largest liberty of licentious freedom, 
and the measure naturally encounters the opposition of 
those who would like to avail themselves of that freedom. 
It also encounters the jealousy of the consulates which, not 
being those of treaty powers, are excluded from a nomi- 
na,tion of the inspectors. The only reason why such an 
arrangement exists exclusively at Shanghae, is because of 
its greater necessity from the extent of its commerce; but 
if a useful system, it should be applied to the other ports. 

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the trade of Shang- 
hae seems to go on most prosperously. I have known 
twenty-two vessels to arrive in one day, and have counted 
a list of over eighty in port at one time. 



334- 



IN CHINA 



The following is a list of vessels, of heavy tonnage, 
which arrived in this j^ort in the months set opposite their 
names of the years 1856-57 : 



Name. 

Neptune's Favorite 

Eagle 

Eureka 

Endeavor 

Nor' Wester 

Don Quixote 

Komance 

Eagle Wing 

Contest 

Golden West 

White Swallow 

Swallow 

Alboni 

J. Bell 

North Wind 

Spitfire 

Sky-lark 

Intrepid .. 



Fkom. 

San Francisco 

London 

do 

San Francisco 

do 

Siam 

San Francisco, 
Hong Kong... 

New York 

Ilong Kong.. . 

London 

do 

San Francisco, 
Hong Kong... 

do 

do 

do 
Calcutta 



Cargo, 
Ballast... 
Heavy 

do ... 
Ballast... 

do ... 

Eice 

Ballast... 

Eice 

Heavy — 

Eice 

Heavy... 

do ... 
Ballast... 
Eice 

do ... 

do ... 

do . . . 

do ... 



Month. Tons. 



October 

November.. 

do .... 
December. . 

do .... 

do .... 
January 

do 

February . . 

do 
September.. 

do 

February . . 

April 

May 

June 

do 

July 



1346 
1296 
1041 
113T 
1267 
1429 
17S1 
1174 
1098 
1441 
1192 
1435 
1000 
1381 
1045 
1549 
14S1 
1173 



I am particular in giving this list, because an impres- 
sion has been sent abroad by high authority, that the 
difficulties of the river are opposed to the prosperity of 
Shanghae, and I shall hereafter have occasion to refer to 
it in an argument upon certain measures which I regard 
as expedient for the interests of the United States govern- 
ment. It is true that, upon the occasion of our first visit, 
the San Jacinto, drawing eighteen feet water, grounded 
in the river. It is equally true she ought not to have 
grounded, there being plenty of water in the channel — 
there being, at full tides, twenty-three feet water on the 
bar. 

At the time of our second visit to Shanghae, in the 
fall of 1857, a change of Taou Tais occurred, Lan, who 
occupied the place, for some reason w^as appointed to 
another and less desirable position, not perliaps as any 
punishment or disgrace, but because the very profitable 
position was wanted by some more influential politician. 
Lan was removed, and Teue appointed to his place. Very 
soon after arriving at Shanghae, the ex and the new Taou 



SHANGHAE. 335 

Tai notified the consuls of the three treaty powers that 
they would make an official call. The United States 
consul asked me to be present at the interview. A mixed 
entertainment, partly in our own fashion, and partly Chi- 
nese, was gotten up for the occasion. The Chinese part ot 
the tiffin consisted of various peat and incomprehensible 
articles of ornamental cakes, jellies and confectionery — 
the American part, of champagne wine. The day and hour 
had been appointed some days before ; and nearly an 
hour before the arrival of the officials, a messenger came 
with three cards. These were those of the old Taou Tai, 
the new Taou Tai, and the prefect or district magistrate. 
To each pertained two cards — slips of pink paper about 
ten inches long and three wide. On one was the name 
of the individual, and on the others his titles of honor. 
With sounding gong and cries of their attendants, they 
came with a crowded retinue on foot. First, there entered 
our in closure two lads in official caps, bearing, suspended 
from a stick on their shoulders, a crimson trunk, in which 
was a suit of criminal's clothes. These are borne before 
the Taou Tai on such occasions, to indicate to him his 
entire dependence upon the emperor's authority; that 
whenever an order from the emperor may reach him, 
in the house, or on the way, he must descend from his 
state, and, if commanded, appear as a criminal before his 
judges. 

The officials were in full mandarin costume, with the 
respective buttons of their rank, their peacock-tail plume, 
and armorial bearings embroidered on the backs and 
breasts of their robes. 

Having descended from the sedan chairs, they were 
met by us at the door, when they chin-chinned by fold- 
ing then- hands together in a fist form, and shaking them 
two or three times in front of their breasts, bowing their 
heads slightly at the same time, which motions we imitated. 



336. IN CHINA. 

After a few minutes' prefatory and ceremonial conver- 
sation in the dining-room, we adjourned to that where 
the table was spread, and our visitors partook of the 
refreshments at least with the courtesy of appearing to 
like them, taking wine with us as asked, and in return 
for such things as we helped them to, placing others on 
our plates. 

They had, very prudently, not depended upon our pro- 
viding them with the luxury of napkins soaked in hot 
water, but their servants had come provided with them, 
and, obtaining from ours the hot water, handed the 
smoking cloths to their masters at the close of the re- 
past. Conversation as abrupt and rugged as ours is in 
its most courteous refinement, must appear harsh to peo- 
jDle accustomed to language of such studied ceremony as 
theirs. 

A Chinese gentleman with formal courtesy depreciates 
all that belongs to himself, and exalts all pertaining to 
him with whom he converses. 

" How are the branches of your family tree ?" 

" My own little puppies are, etc." 

" After the splendor of your own palace, I hope you 
can endure my little hut ?" 

" Your greatness of understanding is accumulating 
riches ; my own stupidity condemns me to poverty." 

" In your palace, how many ages have you remained?" 
or, " At your feet I inquire how many noble cycles ?" i. e., 
How old are you ? 

" How is he whose commands you receive and are 
obliged to obey?" i. e.. How is your father? 

" How is the great, great person, who issues commands 
in the hall ?" i. e., your mother. 

In the course of a few days, in return for the consul's 
entertainment, there came an invitation on a sheet of un- 
folded Vermillion paper, in an envelope a foot long, written 



SHANGHAE. 337 

over with Chinese characters, and opening at one end. It 
may be supposed to read as follows : 

"My house is thoroughly cleansed. On the twelfth 
day of the ninth moon, at ten o'clock in the morning, my 
table will be garnished; my wine-cups will be scoured 
and bright ; and I will be waiting in an attitude of sub- 
mission the light of your countenance." For such is the 
style of a Chinese invitation. 

At the appointed time we went in sedan chairs with 
the dignity of four-bearers, wearing red-tasseled caps. 
Gongs and horns and guns saluted our entrance to the 
court-yard of the Taou Tai. His excellency met us, and 
we chin-chinned as before. He carefully inquired of the 
interpreter the respective rank of the individuals, and 
seated those of the highest on an elevated divan on his 
left. 

This entertainment was similar to our own, with foreign 
wines, hot tea, and a pleasant drink of raw almond emul- 
sion ; and as we came away, the guns and the gongs 
saluted our departure as they had done ©ur arrival. 



XXVII. , 

SHANOHAE 



0]S- the two or three last days of August of one of our 
visits to Shanghae, the boats in the river presented lines 
of bright lanterns, giving the appearance of an illuminated 
city, and the same were seen in the distant rural suburbs. 
It was the joyful offering of the people for the fruitful- 
ness of the summer. Considering how unspiritual most 
of us are, there must be something very fascinating in this 

15 



338 • IN CHINA. 

tangible acknowledgment made to unseen deities for vis- 
ible benefits. 

A few days after this an opportunity occurred of see- 
ing the devotion of the Chinese mind to intellectual and 
moral superiority; still, however, manifesting the same 
reverential awe of dogmas which is expressed by the vul- 
gar, in their imperfect English, " ola custom." Certain 
literary graduates were to receive a degree which put 
them in the line of political promotion, and upon this 
occasion they were to bow themselves before the shrine 
of Confucius. Through and through the tangled mazes 
and narrow lanes of the odorous city of Shanghae, under 
the escort of the Rev. Mr. Cunningham of the Methodist 
mission, we found our way to the Confucian temple in 
the suburbs. It is a simple structure, adorned with a 
little Chinese confused painting and some gilding — but no 
idols. The main altar, if it may be so called, contains 
an upright board, the tablet of Confucius, upon which, in 
gilded letters, are sentences from his philosophy. 

Each side of the building contains a row of similar tab- 
lets of his principal disciples ; and on either side of the 
main building are wings with the tablets of other distin- 
guished Chinese sages and morahsts. 

The neighborhood of the temple, as uj^on all such occa- 
sions in our own country, was thronged with a curious 
crowd of spectators, most of them in their holiday clothes ; 
and thrift-searching Chinamen had erected mat booths for 
supplying the demand for " refreshments." A large por- 
tion of this crowd consisted of neatly-dressed females. 

We, who were in uniform, greatly attracted the atten- 
tion of the crowd before the arrival of the distinguished 
individuals in honor of whom it had gathered together. 
They were more familiar with our missionary companions, 
and these, as was their habit, entered into conversation 
wdth the crowd. They always listen with great patience 



LITERARY EXAMINATIONS. 339 

and attention to any view of religion which may be pre- 
sented to them, however adverse to their own, and their 
only comment of dissent may be, " It is a very good re- 
ligion for you, but will not answer for Chinamen." 

An individual among them, from his attire, one of the 
people, was very voluble in his discourse, though in good 
temper, and a little as though inspirited by sam-shoo. 
Illative courtesy, however, was conspicuous in this man. 
It was warm and tiresome standing, and he signed to us 
to seat ourselves on the stone sill of the adjoining porch. 
" Sit down yourself," said the gentleman with whom he 
was talking. " I^o, I am at home ; you are a guest." 
The graduates, in rich costume, and all young men, came 
in sedan chairs, preceded by music. They were taking a 
degree equivalent to Bachelor of Arts. Preceded by the 
district magistrate, and following his motions, they bowed 
three times before the tablet of Confucius, not, however, 
entering the temple, and then they made obeisance in an- 
other part of the temple to the judge or chancellor. 

The most curious part of the ceremonies was their con- 
clusion. The instant the salutations were over, they rushed 
to their chairs, which the bearers had ready, and ran off 
in the wildest kind of hurry. This was to indicate their 
emulation in the race of life, and the speed with which 
they would reach the future literary and political honors 
which are now open to them. Literature is the Chinese 
road to political preferment ; and hence at once a dem- 
ocratic practical principle is established, for brains have 
not their quantity and quahty in birth. So general is the 
operation of this principle, that, as with ourselves, the 
stimulus and necessity of poverty is thought to be almost 
essential to success in China. The distinguished Key-ing, 
Governor General of Two-kwang, and Imperial Commis- 
sioner, was the son of a poor shoemaker. 



340 • IN CHIN A. 

I had an opportunity of seeing some of the influences 
which stimulate these young men to continued effort, and 
disseminate ambitious views among the youth of then* vil- 
lages and vicinage. Being on the side of the city opposite 
to, and some three miles from the temple of Confucius, I 
saw approaching me a crowd of labormg men and boys, 
hurrying along with bright-colored banners, and in the 
midst of the crowd, was one of these youths in his rich 
costume and decorated sedan chair. He was being thus 
honored and welcomed to his home by the people of 
his neighborhood. The examination for the Keu Jin, 
M. A., takes place in the principal city of each province 
once in three years, and also upon some special occasions. 
At the higher examination held at Nankin, the number of 
candidates is very large, the average being twenty thou- 
sand, and of these only an average of two hundred is suc- 
cessful. 

"When the candidates enter, they are searched for 
books or scraps of writing which might assist them in 
writing their essays, and the strictest precautions are 
taken to prevent any communication between them while 
in the examination hall. Three sets of themes are given, 
each occupying two days and a night, and, until that 
time is expired, no one is permitted to leave his allot- 
ted apartment, and no attendants are allowed. This 
is to teach them that the disciples of the ancient sages 
must be self-denying, and not covet the good things 
of this life. The essays are scrutinized by officers ap- 
pointed for that duty, to know if they conform to 
the regulations. They must not exceed seven hundred 
characters, nor contain any character which belongs to 
the name of Confucius, Mencius, or any emperor. Nor 
must there be any character written over the ruled red 
lines. No erasure or correction of any kind is allowed. 



LITEKAET EXAMINATIONS. 341 

Essays of former examinations must not be copied, and 
any obvious lault in composition observed by the officers 
who superintend this department, would prevent the es- 
say from being placed in the hands of the examiners. 
The eighteen assistant examiners then select the best 
essays, to the number of two or three hundred, and sub- 
ject them to the examination of two commissioners from 
the Imperial Hanlin College, who decide which are the 
best, and arrange the names in the order of merit. The 
writer of the first is called Keae Yuen, the first to be 
recommended to the emperor. In granting offices, the 
emperor follows the order of names in this and the higher 
examinations. 

" On the first two days the themes are taken from the 
four books with a line of poetry ; on the next from the 
five classics, one from each ; and lastly five papers of mis- 
cellaneous questions are given. To answer these ques- 
tions, if the papers before us are to be taken as an average 
example, a most extensive reading in general Hterature 
must be expected from the candidates in addition to their 
study of the classical books. 

" The first of these papers takes for its range the com- 
mentators on the classics ; e. g.^ ' Choo-foo-tze, in com- 
menting on the Shoo King, made use of four authors — 
who sometimes say too much, at others too little ; some- 
times their explanations are forced, at others, too orna- 
mental. What have you to observe on them ?' ' In 
the Han dynasty there were three commentators on the 
Yile King, whose explanations and divisions into chapters 
and sentences were all difierent. Can you give an account 
of them ?' ' Under our present sacred dynasty, litera- 
ture and learning are in a most flourishing state. You, 
candidates, have been studying for several years. Let 
each of you make use of what he knows, and reply to 
these questions.' 



342 . IN CHINA. 

" The second paper has for its subject histories, inviting 
a criticism from the candidate on the historical works of 
each dynasty in succession from Sze ma, the Herodotus of 
China, downwards to the Ming emj^erors. It is obvious 
that the examination can be no child's play when such 
comprehensive questions as these form a part of it : — 
* Sze ma, in making his history, took the classical books 
and ancient records, and arranged the facts they detailed. 
Some have accused him of unduly exalting Taourists, and 
thinking too highly of wealth and power. Pan koo, a 
writer of the Han dynasty, is clear and comprehensive, 
but on astronomy and the five elements he has written 
more than enough. Can you give examples and proofs 
of these statements ?' ' Ch'in-show had admirable abili- 
ties for historical writing. In his Three Kingdoms he 
has depreciated Choo-ko-leang, and made very light of 
E. and E., two other celebrated characters. What is it 
that he says of them ?' 

" The third paper questions the candidates on the an- 
cient and modern divisions of the empire. They are 
required to state the authorities who record the earliest 
division into nine provinces, the changes which followed, 
and the discrepancies between the diflerent authors in 
their accounts of them ; then the changes that occurred 
under more recent dynasties, in the number, designations 
and mode of government of the provinces, are asked for. 
It is then added that the size of the empire having much 
increased beyond what it was in former times, diligent 
study ought to be bestowed on geography, and the can- 
didates are invited, accordingly, not to conceal their 
knowledge, but state all they can. 

" The next is on books. The candidates are required 
to relate where the existing accounts of certain lost books 
of high antiquity are found, and what emperors have 
made efforts to preserve books and to form libraries. It 



SEU-KWAITG-KE. 343 

is asked : ' The Seuj dynasty collected books to the num- 
ber of three hundred and seventy thousand. These were 
reduced by selection to thirty-seven thousand. Where 
was the library in which they were kept, and who per- 
formed the task of selection ?' Questions are also asked 
on what catalogues of books have been made, and the 
method of classifying them that have been employed. 
The last paper is on the history of the water-courses and 
flood-gates in the eastern parts of this province (Keang 
N"an). It begins with the Emperor Ta Yu's hydraulic 
achievements, and asks for an account of the early names 
of this region. It then inquires why it is that the Woo- 
sung Keang is so beneficial to the neighboring depart- 
ments by affording an outlet to the waters of the Tae Hoo. 
At the close it is added : ' Our emperor is always seeking 
to promote the people's good. You, who are inhabitants 
of this province, ought to be fully informed on the subject 
of its water communications. ISTow show your knowledge, 
that there may be proof of your fitness to be presented 
to the emperor.' " 

Such being the rigid character of the literary acquire- 
ments which are essential to influence and political posi- 
tion in China, can the fiterary men of western nations 
wonder that they look with contempt upon nations whom, 
until recently, they have known chiefly through the ac- 
quaintanceship of commerce ? 

An elaborately-carved stone portal, which stands about 
the centre of the city of Shanghae, will be sought out by 
the seeker after celebrities and antiquities, for it is the 
monument of Seu-kwang-ke. He was born in this city 
ab6ut three hundred years ago, and the city may well 
pride herself upon being the birth-place of so distinguished 
a man. 

Graduating as Keu-Jin (master of arts) in 1598, and 
being at the head of the list, he ran a successful literary 



344 . IN CHINA. 

and political career, receiving, seven years ajfter the 
degree of M. A., that of Doctor, at the same time with 
his former preceptor. 

He produced several works, with the following titles : 
"College Lessons for the year 1604;" "Sen's Chit- 
Chat ;" " Six Memoirs on the Book of Odes," in fourteen 
volumes : 

1. An Investigation of Objects. 

2. An Elucidation of History. 

3. An Exploration of Antiquities. 

4. An Amplification of the Meaning. 

5. A Selection of Beauties. 

6. The Correct Sounds. 

I give these subjects as a key to the character of Sen's 
mind. The appointment of " Honorary Member of the 
Institute" being offered to his preceptor, Hwang Te Jin, 
he declined, on account of advanced age, and recommend- 
ed Sen, who received the honor. In succession he 
reached the places of " Examiner of the National Insti- 
tute," " Minister of the Household," and " Assistant to the 
Board of Rites." 

The Chinese scholar and statesman. Sen, became the 
Roman Catholic Paul, under the influence and teaching 
of the Jesuit missionary, Ricci, who reached Pekin in 
1601, and attained to high influence and favor. Drawing 
from such sources of information as presented themselves 
to him, and enriching his facts by the fertility of his own 
mind. Sen brought forth, as the fruit of his intellectual 
intercourse with Ricci, works on "Military Tactics," 
"Agriculture by the Military," "The Salt Revenue," 
" Hydraulics," " A Disquisition on Canals and Rivers," 
" On European Hydraulics," " The Proper Rules for Til- 
lage," " Misceflaneous Records on Husbandry," etc. Sen 
and Ricci jointly produced a translation of the first six 
books of the Elements of Euclid's Geometry. 



SEU-KWAIS'G-KE. 345 

The following are some of the remarks of Seu, which 
accompanied the issue of the work : 

" This is a book of the most extensive utility, and, at 
the present time, it is one of the highest importance. As 
soon as I had finished the translation, I, together with a 
friend, got it printed and published. Mr. Ricci, who had 
written an introduction, was exceedingly delighted at the 
rapidity of the publication, and was sanguine in his hopes 
that it might be generally studied ; but there are very 
few that give their attention to this subject. I conceive 
that a hundred years after this it will become a popular 
study, and then people will wonder how the subject has 
been so long neglected. There are some who, on first 
looking at this work, fancy it very abstruse and difficult 
to be understood, and say that I ought to have explained 
every paragraph and sentence. To which I reply ; the 
principles of geometry and arithmetic are, in themselves, 
altogether free from mystery ; and, as to the terms em- 
ployed, if you duly exercise your minds upon them, you 
will soon find them become extremely clear and intelligi- 
ble ; but, if the thinking powers are not brought to bear 
on the subject, certainly it will appear mysteriously pro- 
found. Suppose a person finds himself surrounded on all 
sides by hills, not knowing in which direction to look for 
the road, he walks on till he comes to a foot-path, and, 
following it, finds the right course. So, let any one apply 
himself for ten days to the task, and he will be able to 
understand the whole from beginning to end ; and every 
sentence and expression will appear extremely plain and 
clear." 

One may be excused for quoting these sentiments of a 
Chinese scholar of three centuries ago, as well on account 
of their source as of their practical wisdom. 

After this, Seu produced several other mathematical 
15^ 



346 . IN CHINA. 

works, correcting the errors of former works ; and mani- 
festing great intellectual activity and industry. 

But a man so able and eminent maintaining and leading 
into influence a religion differing from that of those with 
whom he was associated, necessarily incurred the enmity 
of his rivals in literature, and his opponents in religion. 
These influences having free course by the removal of his 
imperial patron from life. Sen, and the foreign Christians 
whom he had protected, fell into discredit and under per- 
secution. At this time, however, the Manchu power was 
threatening the native dynasty, and Sen, with the soul of 
true greatness, and the spirit of a patriot, brought his 
military science and his personal efforts to the support of 
the power which had been hostile to him. His value was 
too great to be neglected, and, once more, he reached a 
position of influence in the empire, carrying with him his 
foreign Christian associates. He was now appointed 
"High Chancellor of the Eastern Cabinet," and admitted 
to the private councils of his emperor, being also ofiicially 
a member of the " Privy Council," and " Guardian to the 
Prince Royal." 

His great work is, a " New System of Arithmetic," in 
one hundred volumes. Seu-kwang-ke closed his active life 
of more than seventy years, in October, 1633, and his re- 
mains now lie entombed near his native city of Shanghae. 

He died rich in reputation and virtue, but jDOor in gold. 
It was represented to the emperor by one of the censors 
that, " In his zeal for the service of his country, Seu had 
omitted to make any provision for his family ; and, having 
acted thus disinterestedly with regard to the emoluments 
of his office, if his imperial highness would now signalize 
his approbation by a display of his munificence towards 
the surviving members of the family, such an act would 
go far to discountenance and put to shame those who 
grasped at public office, merely for the opportunity of 



SEU-KWAKG-KE. 347 

subserving their private views and interests" — a sentiment 
which it would be well for some more modern countries 
to apply to their official policy, instead of basing it upon 
the experiment of making " empty sacks stand upright." 

The emperor approved of the request, and had it car- 
ried into effect, also conferring on Seu the posthumous 
titles of " Pillar of the State," and of " Secondary Guar- 
dian." 

The edict appointing posthumous honor to the deceased, 
commences in the following language : 

" The fiowers (smoke) ascend from the gem-eared vase, 
while the goblets and dishes are replenished. In distin- 
guishing you by the gift of this fehcitous casket, I would, 
diffuse the knowledge of your reverential and illustrious 
merit. I, having received your three-fold counsels, have 
rejoiced to behold thereby the people refreshed, as the 
earth with the showers of spring. Thus your meritorious 
aptitude for every department of government might be 
traced in the purity of your conduct while occupying the 
privy councillor's station. Looking upon the fidelity of 
your service towards me, I now grant you these honors." 

The ancestral chapel stands on the site of the ancient 
residence of the Seu family, in the city of Shanghae. It 
contains the e^gj of Seu, wearing the robes of the Ming 
dynasty. On the right is the inscription : " In the use of 
numbers, and the elucidation of husbandry, the teacher 
of a hundred generations could span the heavens and em- 
brace the earth." On the left : " Abroad, a general — at 
home, a privy councillor; the same minister was a coura- 
geous warrior and a skillful politician." 

The Chinese are by no means sparing of their honors 
to distinguished women. Among the carved granite por- 
tals which are seen through the country, are many to 
virtuous women, and among the virtues most entitling to 
such a distinction, is that of having lived faithful to the 



348 . IN CHINA. 

obligations of a first marriage. The family of the noble 
Sen, and that branch of it which belongs to the city of 
Shanghae, is rich in these virtuous women. 

When, nearly three hundred years ago, Seu bowed be- 
fore the ba^Dtismal font, joined with him in the holy rite 
was his grand-daughter, Candida. Being left a widow, 
and having set aside the matrimonial portions of her 
eight children, she devoted the remainder of her fortune 
to building churches, to the dissemination of Christianity. 
She built a foundling hospital, and a college for the edu- 
cation of a native ministry. The emperor conferred u^Don 
her a noble title, and presented her with a costly robe, 
which she sold for the purposes of charity. One great- 
grand-daughter earned celebrity by living a widow forty- 
one years from her fifteenth year. Another great-grand- 
daughter, Seusze, accomplished in arts and literature, 
upon the death of her husband, also devoted to literature, 
abandoned these pursuits, devoted herself to spinning, 
weaving, and frugality, dying after fifty-three years of 
widowhood. The wife of a great-grand-son of Seu- 
Kwa,ng-ke, took a vow of widowhood, devoted herself to 
her son and her husband's mother, and lived a widow for 
more than forty years, earning for herself the title of "an 
inimitable pattern of constancy and filial piety." 

Seven other ladies of this great family, coming down to 
the wife of the great-great-grand-son of the grand-son of 
Kwang-ke, were celebrated in the annals of Shanghae for 
the longevity of their widowhood, secondary wives joining 
with primary in earning this honor. 

The facts of the foregoing short biography of the great 
privy councillor, embody many interesting points of Chi- 
nese history, and suggest many interesting reflections 
upon the fluctuating fate of Christianity in this empire. 
They present, too, an insight into the capacity of the 
Chinese mind for scientific investigation. That a higher 



ISEAEL IK CHINA. 349 

national cultivation has not, in the course of so much, time, 
resulted from the influence of such a man, may be, at least 
in part, attributed to the fatal union of knowledge and sci- 
entific truth with a false, a worldly and ambitious sectari- 
anism. Had Sen been made an humble Christian, and de- 
voted his capacities to the true mode of extending divine 
truth alone, Christianity might now have been the religion 
of the empire. Had he been solely scientific, and still a 
pagan, science, and foreign men of science, not having the 
hostility of opposing religion to contend with, might have 
been more progressive. 

But more ancient than the associations of the privy 
councillor's gateway — more ancient than Christianity in 
China, than Christianity itself, are the records of Cod's 
ancient people in the Chinese empire. 

" And behold these from the land of Sinim."'* Who is 
it that is to come from the land of Sinim, and where is 
that land ? Some learned investigators conclude that the 
vast territory of China is the land alluded to. If so, are 
there any of the chosen people — the ancient people with 
whom God held communion, in that land ^ Has the word 
spoken by His prophets been carried there save by Chris- 
tian messengers ? These interrogatories facts answer in 
the affirmative. 

, A people winning for themselves tablets of honor, 
and eminent Chinese mandarins and statesmen coming 
out from that people, are among the established marvels 
of the Chinese empire, and yet this people, and those 
statesmen and nobles, were Israelites — but an ofishoot of 
the nation to whom the one God committed His word and 
law, so early in its history as to be ignorant of the Jewish 
title and of the history of Christ. 

Soon after the establishment of Roman Catholic mis- 
sionaries in China, more than two centuries ago, they 
* Isaiah, slix. 12. 



350 ^ IN CHINA. 

were surprised by the fact, that ia the interior of that 
country there had been existing, from a very early period, a 
sect, which, having heard of the new comers, claimed iden- 
tity of religion with them. It was known as the sect " Teaou 
Kin Keaou," " the sect that plucks out the sinew." 

Such investigation as these missionaries made at the 
time, though it was very imperfect, ascertamed the exist- 
ence of several Hebrew synagogues — one at Hang-chow- 
foo, one at Nankin, and one at Kae-fung-foo. None of 
these are now known to exist, except that at Kae-fung-foo, 
in the province of Honan, two hundred miles from Pekin. 
The difficulties of penetrating to this place, by those com- 
petent to correct observation and investigation, have been 
so great that our information is not proportioned to the 
interest of the subject. 

Some of the modern Protestant missions have sent out 
Christian Chinese to collect information respecting these 
Israehtes. Many obstacles lay in their path, but they suc- 
ceeded in reaching Kae-fung-foo, keeping a detailed ac- 
count of their journey. 

They represent the community as consisting of but 
a few flimilies, and these in a very decayed condition, 
though the evidence of the past honorable position of the 
community, and the distinguished character of some of 
its members still remained. No sufficient data have yet 
been reached to determine at what period these Jews 
entered China, but enough to establish that it must have 
been long before the Christian era ; and the supposition 
is that the high tone and the pure morality of the Con- 
fucian philosophy is but a gleam from the burning bush 
on Mount Sinai. But at Kae-fung-foo was found in the 
noble old Hebrew character, word for word, and letter 
for letter, book for book, the same divine record and law 
which is the foundation of our national existence and 
prosperity. In the synagogue, over a tablet containing 



MARRIAGE AJUB F U ]N' E E A L DEBATE. 351 

the name of the Emperor of China, is written, in Hebrew 
letters of gold, 

"Hear, Israel: 
The Lord our G-od is one Lord ; 

Blessed be the IsTame 
Of the Grlory of His Kingdom, 
For ever and ever." 

After this, on a triple arch, was the following inscrip- 
tion in Hebrew : 

"Blessed be the Lord our God ; 

The Lord is God of G-ods, and the Lord 

A great God, strong and terrible." 

In separate tents, in the " House of Heaven," each en- 
closed by silken curtains, were twelve rolls of the law, 
and a central tent, in honor of Moses. On the extreme 
western walls, in golden Hebrew letters, were the tables 
of the Ten Commandments. 

The new treaty may, perhaps, afford greater facilities 
for investigating this interesting subject. 



XXYIII. 

MARRIAOE AND FUNERAL DEBATE. 

On a certain Monday evening, by the thoughtful wo- 
manly kindness of my friend. Miss Fay, I received an in- 
vitation to attend a missionary meeting, at which was to 
be discussed the duty of Christian ministers in relation to 
the established customs of the Chinese in their marriage 
and funeral ceremonies ; that is, how far a conformity to 
the usages was to be permitted or countenanced in Chi- 
nese converts — a most interesting subject. When I en- 



352 IN CHINA. 

tered the room, I found there, English, Scotch and Ameri- 
can missionaries, with their families, and the ladies of their 
respective missions. There were En^^lish Episcopalians, 
and American Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congrega- 
tionalists, Methodists, and Sabbatarians. With several of 
these it had been my honor and my happiness to mingle 
in the Christian refinement and unostentatious hospitality 
of their own families. Here I was, face to face, with the 
whole body of men whom some of the silk and tea buyers, 
and opium smugglers, had described to me as an ignorant 
set of adventurers who came out on the missionary business 
because they could not earn their bread at home ; and who 
were so miserably poor, they were glad to wear the cast- 
off clothes of these same silk and tea traders, and opium 
smugglers. Consistency did not forbid that the next 
speaker should add to this contempt a severe censure of 
the wealth, and ease and luxury in which these same mis- 
sionaries lived. In other lands I had met missionaries, 
and I had found them generally a sincere, earnest band, 
faithfully trusting in the Lord, in His own time to do 
His own work, provided they obeyed His commands, 
not discouraged by the httle apparent progress they 
made. I had found many of these men learned con- 
tributors to scientific, ethnological and philological re- 
searches ; and disj^laying in their vocation a physical and 
moral courage which placed them in the I'ank of the 
noblest heroism. In all foreign lands I had heretofore 
found them, with very few exceptions, the best speci- 
mens of their resj^ective countries, in education, in gen- 
uine refinement, and in all the amenities which grow out 
of cultivation. 

'Tis true, and ought to be admitted, their dress is some- 
times ungainly — their shirt-collars not of the most fash- 
ionable cut ; and few of the commercial lordlings who 
despise them would be willing to admit they had ever 



MAEEIAGE AND FUNERAL DEBATE. 853 

honored by their persons the particular style of garment 
with which the missionary thinks himself sufficiently well 
clad. Representations will have their effect upon the 
mind, and I have felt a painful regret, in hearing mission- 
aries spoken of with contempt, that the Lord should have 
permitted such unworthy men to go forth as the ambas- 
'sadors of the Bible. I could not reconcile it with His 
purposes. At this time I had met but two or three of 
the missionary band, and upon venturing to suggest that 
these gentlemen seemed superior to the opinions ex- 
pressed of their class, it was admitted they were excep- 
tions ; and those who were not exceptions I found were 
mainly known to their judges by their gait, their garb, 
and the contemptible fact of being wanting in wealth, 
which, however, was a common crime in the set. Here 
I was face to face with all of them — a thoughtful, earnest, 
sensible-looking body of men, and withal clothed like de- 
cent gentlemen. ISTotwithstanding my acquaintance with, 
and respect for a few of the body, I confess I was as- 
tonished by the dignity of the meeting, and the re- 
spectability of the audience. Several distinguished British 
officers were present as auditors. There were other con- 
versational charges brought against these missionaries, 
such as spending the money contributed by widows and 
orphans for their own private use and enjoyment. " Judge 
not, lest ye be judged," may be interpreted, Judge not, 
lest ye judge yourselves. I ventured to suggest that as 
missionary boards and the sources of financial means were 
generally, if not invariably, composed of shrewd, intelli- 
gent, practical business men, who had established a close 
system of accountability, and whose interests were opposed 
to the extravagance of their foreign servants, such a lati- 
tude as those charges implied seemed scarcely possible. I 
must, however, say that the very detractors of mission- 
aries would sometimes, in the chances of conversation, 



354 , IN CHINA. 

speak of the self-denial and disinterestedness of individual 
cases ; but the prejudices of class, and the misconceptions 
of ignorance and prejudice, were too strong for any com- 
passing cloud of witnesses to remove. 

The evening discussion was opened by a most able essay 
upon Chinese marriage and funeral ceremonies, read by 
the author, the Rev. Mr. Syle, of the American Episcopal 
mission. The essay took the ground, if I remember cor- 
rectly, that their Chinese converts might be permitted to 
retain their national customs, so far as they were not as- 
sociated with idolatry, astrology and superstition. The 
discussion took a wide range, involving expediency, duty, 
practicability and taste. It was generally participated 
in by all the sects, with much difference of opinion main- 
tained with Christian forbearance, and enlivened by wit 
and humor which shook the stiffness out of the most rigid 
features. Whatever view of the subject was taken, every 
debater admitted that it was surrounded with great diffi- 
culties, and no one, whatever his tendencies, seemed dis- 
posed to a positive and dogmatic opinion. In brief, the 
essential incidents of a Chinese marriage seemed to be, in 
many cases, if not in most, 1st, the betrothal of the parties 
by their parents and guardians in their infancy, and some- 
times before birth, and the obligation of the young peo- 
ple to fulfill this engagement ; 2d, the essential employ- 
ment of systematic negotiators or go-betweens, mei-jin, 
whose office seems to have a wider range than that which 
is apparent, and may be connected with some superstitious 
association ; 3d, the " Pasil," or giving of eight charac- 
ters indicating the exact hour of the bride's birth, day, 
month, etc., this being for the use of the astrologer to 
determine whether the marriage is to be a lucky or un- 
lucky one. If the magician determines the latter, no 
further proceedings are entered upon ; 4th, exchange of 
presents, the decorated bridal chair, the vailing of the 



MAEEIAGE A JT D FUNERAL DEBATE. 355 

bride in a crimson vail, pledging each other in a wine 
Clip, worshiping each other, and the bride worshiping the 
shades of the ancestors of her husband. 

The great difficulty, and that upon which there was 
the greatest discussion, was the nature and obligation 
of the betrothal contract — how far were the Christian 
ministry justified in insisting upon their converts dissolv- 
ing such contracts made for them without their consent, 
especially when the fulfillment of the contract united the 
new Christian by such influential ties to an unconverted 
heathen ? It was generally admitted, but not by all, that 
there was no question as to the impropriety of all such 
contracts made after a profession of Christianity. Some 
contended that even this liberty should be allowed, as in 
Christian lands the professing Christian is united to one 
who is not such. 

The precept, " Be ye not unequally yoked," was taken 
as the ground of those who opposed all consent to the 
union of Christians and heathens. Then arose the ques- 
tion how far the betrothal contract is a soluble one ; was 
it not, according to Chinese law and Chinese usage, a vir- 
tual marriage, and only to be set aside by divorce ? or 
was it, as such engagements with us, open to the caprice 
of either party, under the penalty of fine ? 

That the betrothal contract could not be violated with- 
out penalty, and that authority could restrict the parties 
from other contracts, was admitted. Still, the questions 
presented themselves, were there not usages and moral 
obligations stronger than law which required the Chinese 
Christian to fulfill his contract ? Were there not obligations, 
under Chinese usage, to parents, which could not be set 
aside ? Several cases were narrated, which showed the 
great difficulties surrounding this subject. Dr. Hobson, 
of Canton, when Canton was, related the case of a Chris- 
tian daughter of a Christian Chinaman, who had been be- 



356 , IN CHINA. 

trothed to a heathen — I presume, before the conversion of 
her parents. The young man claimed the fulfillment of 
the contract. The parents were distressed by the obliga- 
tion of fulfilling the contract, and knew that their daugh- 
ter could not be happy in her inconsistent relation. Their 
friends, among the missionaries, were also anxious upon 
the subject, and were willing to contribute any amount of 
money to have her released from the necessity. All the 
parties were poor, but the father said that, fearful as it 
was to him, the thing must go on — no amount of money 
could release them from the obligation. 

The Rev. Mr. Yates, of the Methodist Church, who 
seemed to be very familiar with Chinese usages, stated 
that if the husband, when he first saw the bride to whom 
he had been betrothed in her infancy and his own, found 
her blind, or deformed, still he was not at liberty to end 
the contract. He must live single while she lives, and, I 
think he said, must support her. 

Dr. Wentworth, also of the Methodist Church, of Su- 
chau, narrated a case now giving them some anxiety. A 
young man who had professed Christianity, who had been 
in the United States, who was living a reputable and 
prosperous life, had made recently a marriage contract 
with an unconverted woman, and for this, the Church 
■ with which he had been in connection had cut him off. 
He had brought his certificate of baptism and of church 
membership to the Methodists, and asked them to receive 
him. He assured them that when married, and his wife 
came under his influence, he would place her in prepara- 
tion for becoming a Christian. 

These cases show the great difiiculty attending this sub- 
iect ; and to appreciate its extent one has only to think for 
a moment of the power of national usages and customs. 
A Chinese family would not so much object to any of its 
members becoming Christians, for they rather appreciate 



MARRIAGE AND FUNERAL DEBATE. 35*7 

the purity and spirituality of the reHgion, if the fact did 
not involve a departure from national usages. 

The next part of the ceremonies which elicited a re- 
mark, was the " pasil," the giving the exact hour of birth. 
The objection to this was its astrological use — the fact 
in itself having no significance; and hence some saw no 
objection to the fact, unless improperly used. All the 
ceremonies of worshiping each other, ancestry, gods of 
the household, were, of course, to be rejected as idola- 
tries. But there was a difference of opinion upon these 
subjects, gome contending that there was really no act of 
worship, but only a conventional courtesy. 

It was curious to observe the wide range of opinion 
upon the latitude which should be given to the associa- 
tion between the sexes. While some seemed to think 
that one of the great elements of western civilization lay 
in the privilege of " courting," and the right of '* private 
judgment" xn matrimonial matters, one of the most 
strong-minded and clear-headed participants of the dis- 
cussion contended for all the reserve of the East in re- 
gard to females, from the hour of birth to the red vail of 
the bridal ; and advanced the doctrine, that a judicious 
selection of all the circumstances which should determine 
a marriage, would be as conducive to happiness, would 
be as likely to be followed by a permanent and abiding 
love between parties heretofore unknown to each other, 
as though the union had been the result of a preexisting 
and impulsive passion. When the many unhappy love- 
matches which mar the matrimonial relation are compared 
with the sober satisfaction of those which have been ar- 
ranged for the parties, this gentleman's opinion would not 
seem to be so heterodox. It may be significant that the 
advocate of the largest freedom of courtship was an 
American, and that he who contended for reserve and 
arrangement was a Scot, 



358 . IN CHINA. 

The subject, involved the usual conflict between duty 
and expediency. I do not feel justified in asking any as- 
sent to my own uninstructed opinion upon this comj^licate 
question; but it seemed to me that the whole of it might 
be very simply solved, as far as missionary duty was con- 
cerned. Teach heart, not formal Christianity, and its 
duties and responsibilities ; and let conformity to all na- 
tional customs be a^ the judgment of the individual. Let 
him fulfill his betrothal contract, and if it leads his com- 
panion to the Christian communion, it is well ; if she leads 
him into paganism, then let him abide the consequences of 
his error. Let him receive the pasil as a ceremony ; but 
if he makes a superstitious and astrological use of it, then 
he has failed in his Christianity, and he must be cut ofi: 
Many of the necessary employments and avocations of life 
tend to tempt the Christian from his duties, and to hea- 
thenize him ; a sea-faring life, a military one — trade itself 
— indeed all external life, has a deteriorating tendency, 
and much of the argument against engaging in Chinese 
marriage may be brought against engaging in these pur- 
suits ; and if not armed against these temptations, the 
Christian is not properly armed. 

Very few remarks were made upon the subject of 
funerals, as it was -generally admitted the Chinese did not 
object to our external mode of burial ; and as most that 
was connected with theirs was wholly and out-and-out 
idolatrous, the participation of a Christian in such cere- 
monies could not be sanctioned. 



S I K - A - W A . 359 

XXIX. 

S I K-A- W A. 

On Thursday, August 26th, 1857, a very great change 
took place in the weather at Shanghae. From benig very 
hot, the weather changed to heavy rain, and so cool, that 
some more delicate individuals found a little fire comfort' 
able. The wind was quite fresh. 

On Friday, starting about eleven in the morning, 
I rode on horseback, with a heavy cloth cap on my 
head, and without any umbrella, out to Sik-a-Wa, a 
Koman Catholic college, about seven miles from our 
residence, and did not find the heat the least oppressive. 

The roads are mere narrow bridle paths passing along 
the banks of ditches, and between fields of cotton, rice 
and beans. The cotton was now in bloom, and men with 
white aprons, like bags, before them, were gathering the 
bolls. The green rice fields were waving and nodding 
their heavy heads, almost ready for the harvest. Some 
fields were being hoed with pronged hoes, or should I 
rather say spots than fields, for every little side nook 
or elevation raked from a creek's bottom, was appro- 
priated to use. The narrow line upon which we rode 
was so narrow, because no more could be spared to it. 
The whole green fresh country was a plain. The highest 
elevation we mounted in our seven miles' ride could not 
have been over ten feet. Once there had been groves 
of ancient trees inhabiting — yes, inhabiting, giving the 
idea of a higher and more enduring life — this plain ; and 
occasionally, in the distance, some few of the solitary 
" oldest inhabitants" might be seen flinging wide their 
spreading branches, as if discoursing on the past, and 
preaching a funeral sermon over their departed um- 
brageous fellows. 



360 . IN CHIN A . 

There is a delicious eloquent communion to beheld with 
one of these single old trees standing in a vast plain, and 
you and he entirely alone — no fellows of his kind, and none 
of yours. I have enjoyed it as I did on the evening of this 
day in other regions. Just as the sun is setting, and you 
are hurrying on your way to escape the shadows and 
wanderings of the night, the old fellow, beckons to you 
with a long and gaunt arm. Your heart turns to him, 
but your eyes are on the big falling sun, and you think 
you will push on ; but there is so much of beseeching in 
his moving arms, he is so lonely, you rein up your horse 
to have a talk. He tells you then of his chronology — of 
the vast and wavy sapling horde which stood around him 
in his green youth ; how man and storm and disease 
had taken all but himself; how he had looked^down upon 
race changed for race — jDlain for city, and city again for 
field. While you are^ thus absorbed by his eloquence, 
the shades of night are around you both, and he grows 
more animated as they fall around him. You bid him 
good-bye, and he waves you such a farewell, as his arms 
pass into the night-shadows, as seems to dismiss you into 
eternity, while he promises to wait there and tell the 
same story, and yours, too, to some traveler of a future 
age, who may stand in your place. There are few places 
where an old tree could tell more than one of these 
standing on the plains of China, on the banks of the Yang 
Tse Kiang, and near the walls of Shanghae. 

An old map, of near a thousand years ago, of Shanghae 
and its vicinity, now before me, bears record to the old 
tree's evidence. It shows that near nine hundred years 
ago there flowed, but a few hundred yards from where I 
now write, a river over five miles wide. Two hundred 
years later it was but three miles wide, and now I cross 
it daily, a small stream, not one fourth of a mile in width. 
In the meantime the river in front of the city has grown 



SIK-A-WA. 361 

to its present dimensions from a small creek, swallowing 
np a rampart built in Tsin dynasty fifteen hundred years 
ago. The paved streets of ancient cities are found in the 
rice fields. The site of the capital of the Leang dynasty 
has passed away, and the waters of Wild Mulberry and 
other neighboring lakes flow over cities founded from 
two to five hundred years B. C. 

The old tree with which I had nowmost to do, had a very 
melancholy story to make up his most recent recollections. 
It was of the many of his fellows, most ancient worthies, 
whole grave communities, which had been destroyed by 
the Imperialist army, when it encamped on their plain, 
besieging the rebels in Shanghae, and then only succeeded 
at last by the impertinent aid of the French. I shall never 
forgive either French or Chinese Imperialists ; not so much 
from sympathy with the rebels, as from sympathy with the 
trees — but, " let the dead past bury its dead." All around 
is now fat fertility, and busy industry. With their peaked 
sugar-loafed hats, some of the Chinamen are hoeing their 
fields, some are gathering their cotton. The women are 
sitting in the yards ginning it, by a gin which has prob- 
ably been in use for centuries among these people, and is 
precisely the same as that which gave fame to Whitney, 
established a new element of western civilization, made our 
wealth in the South, and ties monarchical, oligarchical, 
old England to young, rampant, democratic America. Old 
and wrinkled China women, turning those two little cyl- 
inders, and dropping out cotton seed, how little do you 
dream, how little can you comprehend the great social, 
political, and religious machine, over which you are now 
getting so tired. It controls a world, makes noblemen, 
and does not clothe you much more than fig leaves would, 
and nothing like so neatly. 

There in the shade sits another China woman, busily 
whirring round a spinning-wheel of the rudest and most 
16 



362 • IN CHINA. 

simple constructiou, but carrying three spindles. It is 
kejDt in motion by a treadle, which is nothing more than 
a stick like a barrel stave, sharpened at one end, and that 
end resting in a socket upon one side of the plane of the 
wheel, while the other rests upon a little bridge, lifting 
it from the ground. 

Just rising above the line of a high hedge or live fence, 
are seen the tiled roofs, with peaked and carved gables, of 
one story cottages — the dwellings of the Chinese farmers. 
There are various conveniences for the necessities of man 
provided by the authorities along the wayside, and here 
we have now come to one of them, a small, tiled-roofed 
shed, supported on four brick columns, and covering stone 
seats, upon which several wearied wa;y'farers are now rest- 
ing themselves. Such is the purpose of these public 
resting-places. They are placed at the distance of every 
six miles or eighteen li. 

In our short ride we have passed two low, squat monu- 
ments, or towers, with a hole in the upper part of one 
side. These are public baby-houses, to receive the bodies 
of those infants who are dead by chance or their parents' 
will. They are pitched into these baby-houses, and fe- 
male children, being of but little value, make up the mass 
of the filling in of these towers. Just on the outside of 
the city we noticed a large building, covering much 
ground. This was a provincial Wei Kwei, or council 
hall of the men, who, from some neighboring province, 
were resident for the time being in Shanghae. It was 
also the place of deposit for their dead until an oppor- 
tunity occurred of bearing them to their native place. 
Every province has such an establishment in these foreign 
cities in which those absent from their native province 
are in sufficient numbers to justify it. A few miles from 
the city, amid the farms and fields, another extensive and 
strongly-walled establishment attracted the attention. It 



SIK-A-WA. 363 

was as carefully defended by its close walls as a fortress. 
This was a pawnbroker's establishment. It is well stored 
with goods at the eventful ISTew Year when debts are to 
be paid, and being, upon other necessities, the depot of 
much valuable property, there is much care needed to 
guard the building from the assaults of banditti. I no- 
ticed that the walls of a similar establishment in the city 
of Shanghae are much higher than those of the city. In 
many places the farmers were still busy irrigating their rice 
fields. An exceedingly simple, but efiectual chain pump, 
such as any person could make, and worked either by hand 
or buffalo power, drew the water from either the natural 
water courses, or from artificial ponds, and cast it over 
the fields. Most of the grain, however, was beyond this 
necessity. 

At Sik-a-Wa, we were, as is the habit, very cordially 
received by the French and Italian priests, and conducted 
over their establishment, which was in most excellent 
order. The boys were then at their various amusements. 
They are generally the children of Christian (Roman) pa- 
rents. The institution — indeed, China — has recently sus- 
tained a great loss in the death of one of the priests, who 
had great skill in modeling and sculpture. Some of the 
Chinese now work from the instructions received from 
this person ; but his own models and work in the museum 
of the workshop, win the highest commendation of con- 
noisseurs. 

The poor people in the neighborhood of Shanghae 
lighted their thankful lamps too soon. When we first 
made their acquaintance last year, we found them parched 
and perishing with drought, and devoured by clouds of 
hungry locusts. This year all has gone on prosperously, 
and the lamp-lighted earth and waters bless the stars by 
imitating their brilliancy. 

The first week in September came in with a light at- 



364. IN CHINA. 

mosphere and a frightfully falling barometer. The big ships 
lying in port began to look sensibly prudent and ugly — 
down came all their dandy work. The hght tracery of 
their delicate spars and yards, which stood so proudly in 
the calm and sunshine, " hauled in its horns," just as the 
judicious snail does when a suspicion of danger to his 
house and home reaches his foresight. The rain and wind 
now came in all the power and quantity of a terrific gale, 
and when the flood tide came in, it rose above the river 
banks and spread out over the city. The next flood tide 
was yet more beyond all bounds and bonds. It floated two 
dead Chinamen, and one dead foreigner, into the yard of 
the French consulate. One could visit their friends and 
go to church in a boat. The tide had not been known so 
high in nine years. 

Except that the light-ship anchored off the mouth of 
the river is said to have disappeared with all on board of 
her, we hear of no other loss of life. The Chinese steamer 
Confucius has gone in search of her; but the probability 
is, she went down at her anchors. 

The country around Shanghae has been desolated. A few 
days ago, the fields were snowy with the ungathered cotton, 
and the full-headed rice was just putting on the rich color 
of maturity. Now they are all prostrate and mud-washed. 

Ships which had recently left port returned after the 
subsidence of the gale, entirely dismasted, and many dis- 
asters told of the violence of the cyclone ; at the same 
time a great deal of information was collected from the 
logs of different vessels, illustrating the law of rotary 
storms. The Buenos Ayrean schooner Antonita had 
the gale from N. E. to E. N. E., moderating round to 
E. and E. S. E. Another vessel, the Lanrick, had it at 
the same time from W. N. W. to W. S. W., moderating 
to S. W. These two vessels were, therefore, in opposite 
semicircles of the typhoon with its centre between them. 



SEDAK CHAIES. 365 

The "Water Witcli happened to be in that. The hurri- 
cane blowing from the north, fell to a dead calm for a 
a quarter of an hour. "The sky is bright overhead, and 
the stars are seen shining brightly, while all around is in 
gloom and darkness. Birds and even fishes are dropping 
and tumbling about the decks in great numbers. The 
tumultuous sea breaks in all directions, sweeping over the 
ship from end to end." * The storm then came furiously 
from the south, all showing that the Water Witch was in 
the centre of the cyclone. Captain Baker of this vessel, 
places her at midnight, on September 13th, in latitude 26° 
12' N., longitude 122° 18' E., which makes its position 
one hundred sixty miles N. E. by E. from that of the Lan- 
rick, and one hundred fifty miles S. E. by S. from that 
of the- Antonita. The light-ship, after sundry narrow es- 
capes, was found all safe, though much injured, down the 
coast. 



XXX. 

SEDAN CHAIRS. 

These chairs are of two kinds. One an oblong, up- 
right box, closed in with curtains and Venetian blinds, 
and having a heavy wooden top. This chair must weigh 
something like eighty pounds. Another chair, more chair- 
shaped, of light bamboo, open and uncovered, is a much 
more merciful burden upon the shoulders of the chair 
coolies. It is remarkable to observe what a degenerating 
and demoralizing institution these chairs are, and how 
rapidly the degenerating process goes on. 

When a foreigner, especially an American, arrives in 
China, he is disgusted and pained to see comfortable- 
looking men sitting in their shady chairs, smoking their 
cigars, reading books, or being carried side by side with 
* North China Herald. 



366- IN CHINA. 

a lady, who in another chair is thus taking her evening 
loalJc, while the chair coolies are reeking with perspira- 
tion, panting imcler their burden, and many of them 
marked with tumors produced by the pressure of the 
sticks upon their shoulders, while the same burning sun 
whose lightest ray the chair lounger shuns as a pestilence, 
is beating in ardent fury upon the often uncovered heads 
of his bearers. There seems something humiliating and 
unmanly in the admission that these two miserable, light 
" cash"-supported, rice-fed, contemptible, despised China- 
men should have the physical vigor to walk off with these 
ponderous vehicles upon their shoulders, and the dead 
weight of a beef-fed foreigner's carcase in addition, while 
the foreigner is unable to locomote his sole self. 

On a slave plantation, or in any city of a southern 
State, the most delicate and fragile lady would be ashamed 
to make a beast of burden of the negro slaves, whilst it 
is not at all improbable that the two heavy old or new 
Englishmen now promenading upon the backs of these 
sweating Chinamen, are denouncing the horrors of Ameri- 
can slavery. 

So far as my own limited observation goes, it teaches 
that gentlemen from the slave States of our South are 
more repugnant in China to making beasts of burden of 
human beings than are any other foreigners. 

Two reasons are urged m defense of this painful in- 
dolence. One is, that the coolies like it — that is, they 
want the employment ; and the other is, the sun. There 
is a most fanatical horror of the sun among the foreign 
residents of China which does not seem to be at all jus- 
tified by facts. As soon as a stranger arrives in China, 
every one who has the privilege of speaking to him at 
once warns him of the horrors of the sun. He must not 
move in it, must not show himselt to it, nor by any means 
allow it to paint one bronzing touch upon his skin. It 



SEDAN CHAIES. 367 

is fever, dysentery, liver complaint, thougli, strange 
enough, you never hear it is coup de soleil, and the 
stranger feels pestilence in every warming ray. ISTothing, 
however, is said to the new-comer against sundry bran- 
dies and water — brandies and soda may pop harmlessly 
through every sweltering hour of the day — porter and 
port, sherry by the quart. Tiffins at one, of hot meats 
and strong drink ; dinners commencing at 8 p. m., and 
floated along two or three hours on rosy wine, are only 
named as genial appliances of the climate. For exercise 
to work up all this material a drov/sy stroll in the eve- 
ning damps and chills of the ferns and rice marshes, or 
the violent evening exertion of a bowling alley or racket 
court or billiard -room is thought sufficient. 

Although the sun is everywhere, in warm weather, 
uncomfortable, and too great an exposure to it dangerous, 
yet it maybe a question whether this Chinese celery blanch- 
ing of the surface, and the atony thus induced in the skin, 
and through it in the whole of the internal organs so ex- 
tensively sympathizing with it, is not a greater source of 
disease than would be that degree of exposure to the open 
air and sun which would indurate and bronze the surface. 

It is a well established principle that exposure in a 
malarious country is more safe in the middle and heat 
of the day than in the morning or evening chills ; and 
topographically as well as endemically, as respects foreign- 
ers, China is a malarious country, and especially the neigh- 
borhood of Shanghae. It is my conviction, though, I ad- 
mit, a merely theoretical one, that the sun of Shanghae, 
the solar heat, is not so influeutial for evil as it is in New 
York or Philadelphia, simply because it is not so great. 
The summer climate of Shanghae is more moderate than 
that of either of the above-named places. The general 
exposure of the loaded, laboring coolies of Shanghae to 
the midday sun — the burden coolies, chair coolies, and 



368 . IN CHINA. 

boatmen — could not take place in New York without 
more instances of coup de soleil than I ever heard of here. 
In fact, I never heard of any, though they may have oc- 
curred, although the streets were crowded with the bare, 
semi-shaven heads of these men tottering under heavy 
burdens at the fiery hours of the day. And I doubt if 
the cloistered, sedan and umbrella-blanched residents of 
Shanghae could compare in health with the sun-bronzed 
seamen, the ofiicers of the national and mercantile vessels 
which visited the port. Of course the drunken and licen- 
tious ships' crews are not to be taken as a standard. I 
know it maybe answered me, " These strangers are more 
healthy, because they are but temporarily exposed to the 
deleterious influence of the climate." True, but not being 
acclimated, they are more amenable to climatic and any 
special solar influence that may be existing. 

It is my duty to say that these opinions are advanced 
contrary to the testimony of preceding writers, and contra- 
ry to the alleged and supposed experience of long resident 
lay and professional men. But a prevalent opinion is not 
always a correct one, and one that will stand the test of 
facts and principles. The most apparent sensible cause, 
particularly if it is one of physical annoyance, is often 
concluded to be the true cause of any immediate or simul- 
taneous morbid eflect. In our own agueish districts, 
when the thin, chilled, sallow victims stand in the genial 
sun's rays, they are warned not to do so, because the sun 
gives them the " ager." The sun is a seen and felt influ- 
ence ; the mysterious, invisible, nerve-shaking, and para- 
lyzing malaria, which steals upon them in the shades of 
night, is not seen. 

I throw out these suggestions for the consideration of 
those who are most interested in testing their truth, and 
have the best oj^portunities for doing so. The truth is 
important, not only in a hygienic but in a moral and reli- 



SEDAN CHAIES. 369 

gious point of view. I have heard those who were dis- 
posed to seek every flaw in the missionaries' character, 
and to censure them for human infirmity, say : " I saw so 
and so to-day (Sunday) in his sedan chair, on the shoul- 
ders of his coolies, going to church, to preach, and I did 
not go to hear him, because I remembered the command, 
' Keep holy the Sabbath day, thou and thy servants.' " 
And although these same missionaries honestly believed 
they were the victims of a law of necessity, they are cer- 
tainly open to the comments of those who find no neces- 
sity sufficiently urgent to prevent them from trudging 
about on foot. And when we see ladies seat themselves 
in a sedan chair, and mount the backs of two cooHes, we 
are very apt to think of our own wives and daughters, 
and even of these same ladies who, without horses or 
carriages, or coolies, in the more intemperate climate of 
home, have to do all their visiting and shopping on foot. 

My heretical tendency of opinion has the disadvantage 
of being opposed to the innate sensuality and indolence 
of men who find it much more agreeable to move about 
in the shade of a sedan chair upon the backs of cooHes, 
than in the open air upon their own feet. 

I did find some few obstinate men, who, in practice and 
opinion, conformed to my views, and who volunteered to 
me their gratification that I had denounced the popular 
luxury, but these were hard, healthy, brown, and some- 
what rough-looking individuals. I was also sustained by 
the opinion of some non-resident professional gentlemen, 
and that of one who accumulated a retiring fortune in the 
south of China. He thought much infirmity was incident 
to the panic flight from the sun's rays, especially with 
children. Indeed, it has grown into a maxim that chil- 
dren, at live or six years of age, must be sent to their 
European or American homes to be saved. 

This gentleman had for years acted upon this opinion, 

16* 



370 • IN CHINA. 

and S]3ent many enthusiastic, laborious hours, in all the 
heat of a southern Chinese sun ; but he could not do so if 
he took any stimulants. He left China in good health. 
One case is no conclusive testimony, but it helps to reach 
the truth. 

Although, during nearly two years of my residence in 
China, I suffered from one of the debilitating diseases of 
the climate, contracted, originally, in Siam ; yet, I walked 
much and freely through the sun, at all hours of the day, 
both in Hong Kong and Shanghae. I did this at times 
when, in prudence, I ought not to have done so in any 
climate, and at the cost of many lectures, protests, and 
threatening warnings from my kind friends. However, 
my repugnance to the chairs and to riding my fellow-men, 
not " booted and spurred," but chaired and cigarred, was 
very great, and, then, I owed the allegiance of a martyr 
to my heresy of opinion. My health was gradually but 
perceptibly improved. I do not, of course, attribute the 
result to the exposure — indeed, am willing to admit it 
may have retarded my recovery — and, yet, there may be 
a question whether my ultra and imprudent running about 
in the sun, with its toning and tanning, its indurating 
effect and that of the accompanying exercise, did not do 
me good, at least proportionate to the injury. However, I 
do not advise it as a general practice ; I merely mean to 
suggest that an exposure to the sun of China is no more 
mysteriously dangerous than the same amount of exposure 
in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, or Boston ; but, 
in the latter places, there are no chair coolies to make the 
sun such a pestilence. The most healthy foreign children I 
saw in China were those of missionaries — children who 
ran out of doors freely as they do at home. 

These chairs are a part of the moral and social system 
of the Chinese, and hence there are reasons for their use, 
which foreisrners have not. A chair of a certain kind and 



THE AMERICAN EAGLE IN S H A ]^ G H A E . 371 

decoration is necessary to a marriage — a bridal-chair. 
The jealousy of their women, and the spirit of female 
seclusion, renders necessary some such means of shutting 
them up when they go out. The rank of a Chinese is 
indicated by the number of men who bear his chair, as 
well as by its color, only important men being entitled to' 
a green chair. They are the traveling conveyances, about 
twenty-four miles being the day's journey with four bear- 
ers, each pair relieving at suitable distances. 



XXXI. 

THE AMERICAN EAOLE IN SHANQHAE. 

Theee is, I am sorry to admit, too much reason for 
Americans in China becoming, as the old mandarin is said 
to have said, " second class Englishmen." 

The United States in its collective personality holds its 
head very high at home. It professes to be very rich, 
very independent, very liberal, very elegant, very com- 
miserating of other nationalities, and very superlatively 
good and great in all things. 

"But it shall come to pass 
That every braggart shall be found an ass." 

In China this great boaster, with so much to boast of, 
this propagandist of the most modern and improved doc- 
trines of political progress, is superlatively insignificant. 
The ostrich hides its head and thinks its great lumbering 
body is concealed. The American eagle looks so much 
and so proudly upon its own broad bosom that it does not 
see its distant tail plumage dragging in the mud. But 
drag it does, and so wretchedly that the eagle's best friends 



372 . INCHINA. 

are ashamed of it. lu China, instead of holding its head 
erect and spreading its pinions to a free air, it is a sneak- 
ing, mean, dependent beggar, maintaining its official ex- 
istence by charity and all kinds of wretched shifts. All 
this will be very distressing to the loyalty of juvenile pa- 
triotism, and those who get their blood warmed with the 
fire of Fourth of July orations. Come on to the stage of 
life, then, as quick as possible, and change it all. 
• This round world over, there is no place dotting its sur- 
face — none — where it is more incumbent upon the United 
States to give the outward signs and symbols of its power 
and its intelligence, than in Shanghae. Here, of all other 
places, the bushel should be kicked off the light, and its 
candle set upon the highest hill. It is due to commerce, 
to morality, and to religion — to say nothing about the 
great obligations to Buncombe and to the Fourth of July. 

We are admitted by treaty to five ports: Canton, Amoy, 
Fuchau, Ningpo, Shanghae. The extension by the recent 
treaty does not alter the argument. As Troja, Canton 
fuit, as far as foreigners are concerned, and before this salt- 
solving of Yeh on the ground our feet had desecrated, all we 
had of Canton, as we have seen, were two close-built city 
blocks in a suburb outside the wall, and those who ventured 
out of their prison bounds did so at the risk of their lives. 

Much tea is shipped at Fuchau, but this also has an in- 
imical population. The others are but minor points, and 
afibrd no facilities for impressing the Chinese. 

Now what is Shanghae ? It is a large and growing Eu- 
ropean or American city, with all the comforts and con- 
veniences of our civiUzation. It is the only city of the 
kind in Chma, except the English city of Hong Kong, 
in the far south, and that is isolated. The foreign Shang- 
hae stands side by side with the murky wall of the Chi- 
nese Shanghae, and the freest intercourse exists between 
the two. Already the wide streets, lofty and large houses 



THE AMERICAN EAGLE IN SHANGHAE. 373 

with, their grounds and shrubbery in the foreign settlement, 
contrasted with the dirty narrow lanes, the low cramped 
houses of the Chinese city, have won so upon the natives 
that much of the foreign city is tenanted or owned by them. 

Again, Shanghae belongs to no separate nationality. 
It is neither American, English nor French, but all — prin- 
cipally the two former in importance and influence ; and 
gentlemen of these nations constitute its municipal govern- 
ment. It has nominal limits, it is true ; but only nominal, 
the facilities for extension are indefinite, and Americans 
may here spread themselves and widen the area of their 
national institutions. This mingled nationality is an es- 
pecial reason why the United States should put on a garb 
and costume befitting its dignity and importance. 

Shanghae is the great silk and tea-shipping port. There 
are at the moment of this writing, eighty-two vessels in 
port, and some of them the largest sized American clippers. 

Where American commerce can go, the American gov- 
ernment can and ought to go with its ships ; and for real 
service we ought not to have on the coast of China any 
ships drawing more water than such as are in the table, 
given in a former chapter, but we ought to have several 
much smaller. 

Shanghae is not only the port of the silk district, of the 
green tea district ; but is sufiiciently convenient, for all prac- 
tical purposes, to the best black tea. This, however, finds 
its egress chiefly at Fuchau. Its close proximity to the 
opening empire of Japan must greatly add to its future im- 
portance, and it is the port from which China chin-chins 
the United States at San Francisco. They nod and shake 
hands at each other. 

So long as we get our news and information by the En- 
glish overland mail, there is four or five days' advantage 
in being down at Hong Kong, but even now a favored 
merchant ship brings us sometimes as late news b^" way 



374 , IN CHIN A. 

of California, and when we get steam communication from 
San Francisco to Shanghae, we shall have the advantage, 
at this latter port, of fifteen to twenty days over the En- 
glish overland mail. 

Shanghae is that part of Chma, and that only, in which 
natives and foreigners come into free contact with each 
other. Among its fleets of junks the skilled eye can 
point out those belonging to different provinces, hundreds 
of miles distant. Country people come into Shanghae 
to see the foreigners and their beautiful city. Learned 
men come from Pekin, and are found engaged in literary 
labors among the foreigners ; and the latter travel with- 
out molestation, into the interior, although there is a 
treaty prohibition against it ; indeed, some live there with 
their families, even renting^ of a mandarin. At this mo- 
ment two young men are absent as emissaries of the 
American Episcopal mission, choosing a permanent loca- 
tion in some distant city. This was before the late treaty. 

Such being this city of twelve years' growth, it is worth 
our while to look closely at our national official position 
in it. 

At the point where the Chinese and the foreign cities 
of Shanghae rest upon its banks, the Wong Po, about a 
mile broad, makes a horse-shoe curve of from two to three 
miles from north-east to south-west. A low, green point 
lies in the tollow of this bend, but leaving the river to 
curve around it of uniform width. 

We will not commence at the upper extremity of the 
curve upon which lies the Chinese city, but just below 
the east gate, where commences the foreign settlement. 
There is not much foreign population here yet ; some 
Chinese houses ; and recently built, a French Catholic 
educational institution upon the back part of the settle- 
ment. There are, however, a few large and commodious 
foreign houses. All this ground is what the French call 



THE AMERICAN EAGLE IIST SHANGHAE. 375 

" La Concession Frangaise," and we saw that the French 
consul's aim is to nationalize it, claiming that the people 
of his great nation shall live there, and I infer, on the 
contrary, that no other people shall, unless under French 
jurisdiction. The natural consequence is, there are large 
tracts of waste, unoccupied land, as, where there are so 
few Frenchmen, and these have their living to get, they 
will go where the most favorable site for business is found. 
As we walk down the " Bund," on the river bank, we 
come to a very large walled-in lot, with a very high flag- 
staff, from which flies the tri-color. This is the well- 
chosen location of the future imperial French consulate. 
At present M. de Montigny occupies a respectable resi- 
dence near this inclosure. 

We now cross a bridge over the Yang-kin-pang creek, 
and are in what really is the foreign city of Shanghae. 
This, as before stated, used to be called the Enghsh settle- 
ment, from the claim set up by the English consul for 
exclusive jurisdiction, and that none but the English flag 
should fly there. A claim firmly resisted by our country- 
men, Messrs. Griswold and Cunningham, and set aside 
by the justice of the English government. Since then, it 
prospers imder amalgamated flags and nationalities, and 
such will be the fate of " La Concession Francaise," when 
there is inducement enough to resist the pretensions of 
the French consul. 

Amid the crowd of boats and the cries of boatmen and 
laborers, with the river and shipping on the one hand, 
and stately buildings on the other, we proceed for a mile 
along this busy way, until we come to where the broad 
Su-chau creek forms its junction with the Wong Po. Here, 
at this, the most beautiful of all the locations in Shang- 
hae, looking down the reach of the river, up the waters of 
the creek, and over the whole settlement, surrounded by 



376 IN CHINA. 

large grounds and brick wall, are the sliowy buildings of 
the British consulate. The consular residence and court- 
house, the post office, and the EngUsh jail are all here, 
with the union jack flying in their front. 

Leaving this, we cross Su-chau creek on the new tile- 
paved drawbridge, and we are now in a swampy addition 
to the original settlement. Mud flats, rice fields, a few new 
EuroiDcan houses occupied by Chinese, and a village of the 
aborigine, constitute most of the settlement, excepting 
that here are the houses and the church of the American 
Episcopal mission. On this account it is called, I sup- 
pose, the American settlement. The " Bund," however, 
has recently been carried along the river on this side, and 
following it around, we pass the church and come to 
another small bridge, and over this we come plump up 
to a sailor boarding-house. The road, it is true, lies 
straight before us, marked out, but not made, and lead- 
ing away into swampy rice fields. We, however, turn 
around the corner of the sailor boarding-house garden 
fence, and find our selves in a narrow, muddy alley, 
back of a row of coal-sheds, and turning mto a gate 
from this alley, we are m the little yard of the United 
States consulate, a shackling two-story building, of seven 
small rooms, with a tremendous tall flag-stafl' flying the 
United States flag in front of this house which has no 
front approach to it. Taou Tai, Commissioner, Consul, 
Governor General, must all visit the United States consul 
by the muddy alley, unless they come in a boat. Here it 
stands, the very last house down the river planted in the 
swamp. Close up to its fence, under its windows, is a 
hole dug in the mud-bank for a dock-yard, and Shanghae, 
down the river, ends. 

When all these remote and wonder-seeking Chinamen 
come in to see the foreigners at home, what must be the 
impressions they carry home respecting the nations whose 



THE AMEEICA:N^ eagle IN" SHAKGHAE. 37T 

consulates are in such, contrast with, each other ? Is it any 
wonder that they regard Americans as second class En- 
glishmen ? It is scarce a wonder that Americans regard 
themselves as such. 

But even this wretched place is to some extent a char- 
ity. It has been built by the wealthy American house of 
Russell & Co., as a refuge for the American consul, because 
there is none other for him, on any terms, and if there 
were any vacancies, they could not be had upon any rent 
the United States consul could pay. This place would 
cost in the United States about twelve or fifteen hundred 
dollars to build it, and it rents moderately at eight hun- 
dred dollars. Its cost here I do not know. 

There is one great advantage in the United States con- 
sulate. Being the last house down the river, on the lower 
arm of the horse-shoe, it offers a beautiful view of the river 
and the city above it. It is said people go down into deep 
and dark wells to look, at noon-day, upon the stars in the 
high heavens. We take our stars down into the lowest 
depths, that we may look up at the flashing tri-color and 
the fiery cross of St. George. As we are down here, we 
may as well make the best of it. The place is a little 
damp, and dismal, and soggy, but what a bright, cloud- 
less October day spreads a golden flood of light around 
us and over the scene. In front of us flows the river and 
over it lies the green lowland point with its groves, sailors' 
cemetery, and a few buildings. It hides most of the Chi- 
nese city, but beyond this point we see what looks like a 
sapling forest, stripped of its leaves by autumnal frosts. 
These are the up and down slender masts of the junks lying 
in front of the Chinese town. Just below them, seen over 
the point, commences the massing together of the tall 
masts and cross-spars of the foreign shipping, a curving 
crowd down the course of the river, thinning out a little 
as they approach us, until there are only about twenty-four 



378 . IN CHINA. 

% 

opposite our position to the lowest limit about half a mile 
below us — forty-eight British j9.ags, thirteen American, 
five Siamese, four Dutch, three Spanish, two Hamburg, 
two French, one Danish, one Bremen. These foreigners, 
though, except when they are busy with the cargo-boats, 
loading or unloading, present but the still or sleeping life 
of the river. They are resting from their long jour- 
ney. Its life and animation are in the native junks. It 
is now flood-tide and a fair wind, and they glide by us 
in such numbers, with all their brown, tan-colored sails 
set, generally four narrow, oblong sails, the two long- 
est on the two middle masts, one shorter on the bow, 
and one on the stern — it will puzzle you to count them. 
They glide by with the rapidity of railroad cars. The 
numerous little sampans, with their various and fanciful 
flags, red streaks, and arched mat roofs, gliding in every 
direction, with the tide, against it, across the stream, 
give animation to the scene. Everybody who has any 
thing to do upon the water has his own sampan ; every 
ship in the harbor employs its own, and each of these 
private boats is distinguished by some private flag, and 
the number taxes the invention to find variety. In ad- 
dition to these private boats, numbers lie at each wharf 
for chance hire. 

Whilst these river scenes are passing before us, the sun 
has sank to his setting, and we have four nationalities 
celebrating the close of the day. Crack go two muskets, 
and these, followed by the notes of a bugle, teU that the 
Frenchman has made it sundown. A roll of the drum 
salutes the descent of the English and American ensigns, 
and then the band of the San Jacinto harmoniously car- 
ries the day into night, when the Russians raise their 
voices from the deck of the America in a Christian anthem 
to the God of all. But we have not done with our own 
eagle's doings in Shanghae. The consul is a judge, a 



THE AMERICAN EAGLE IN SHAISTGHAE. 379 

sheriff. He daily makes arrests, holds courts, and is sus- 
tained with great physical ability by a stout marshal. The 
theatre of all these dignified doings is a little out-building 
just ten feet square, and alongside the door the eagle, with 
outstretched wings, is painted on a sign in the most fero- 
cious attitude. But when the consul has tried his culprits 
and condemned them, what is he to do with them to meet 
the ends of justice ? The consul's culprits are not much 
incumbered with scrip, lands or houses, and having prob- 
ably been, at the last event, kicked out of some loafing ref- 
uge, for want of financial resources, they are not amenable 
to fine, and what is he to do with them ? He has no jail ; 
the British consul has. If the British consul were a crusty 
official, and not disposed to extend the hospitalities of the 
jail, there would be an end to the matter ; but at the time 
of my observation, a courteous and gentlemanly person, 
Mr. Robertson, was in the ofiice, and was very liberal of 
his jail facilities ; still it was not proper to ride a free horse 
to death — and this consideration very often brought terms 
of justice down to terms of mercy. We may suppose 
some such sentence as the following : 

" Your crime entitles you to three months' confinement, 
but inasmuch as I can not trespass so long as that on the 
hospitality of the British government, I send you over 
for, three weeks;" or maybe the United States consul 
writes over to his British colleague : 

U. S. Consulate. 
Mt Dear Me. Robeetson : 

I have six rascals who have been committing outrages 
in the country, and I want to shut them up for a month. 
I know that your accommodations are limited, and you 
have many claimants of your own. I am so often indebted 
to your courteous hospitality that I dislike much to be a 
trespasser, but would be glad to know the extent to which 



380 • IN CHIN A . 

you can accommodate me, and if not to the whole num- 
ber, they can draw lots for the chance. 

Yours, with thanks for past favors, 

. U. S. Consul. 

H. M. Consulate, SnANanAE. 
My Dear Colleague : 

I am a little crowded, but to accommodate you, and 
to secure the peace of the community, I will let out four 
of my mitigated rascals and take in six of yours. 
I have the honor to be, 

Your friend in official need. 
: , S. M. Consul. 

The United States consulate was a good theatre for ob- 
serving the ascendency of the Japhetic over the Shemitic 
race. I have seen the lowest puddle of our noble blood as- 
serting its superiority in this wise : a fellow with a stout 
cudgel, felt hat pressed down over his reddened eyes and 
face, rings in his ears, dragging in two crying Chinamen by 
their long queues, to have them adjudged by his consul 
for some offense against this noble American ; and when 
he found the consul was not there, and thought none saw 
him. King Demos wanted to know why the d — 1 the con- 
sul was not there, and with curses in EngUsh, and curses 
in Chinese, with an occasional kick, would, if permitted to 
go on, have been his own judge and executioner. 

Without any exaggeration, indeed, feehng that I have 
failed to reach the force of truth, I have made an effort 
to show by facts and observation the nature of the United 
States consulate in Shanghae. Any one could attend to 
the stereotyped affairs of merchant ships and sailors ; but 
the constantly arising questions to be determined with- 
out precedent, in such a chaotic jurisdiction require a 
man of the first order in character, abihty, and legal at- 
tainments. I offer now the testimony of one of the most 



THE AMERICAK EaGLE IN SHANGHAE. 381 

able United States consuls in China. His remark was, 
" We have never had a consul in China equal to the re- 
quirements of his position. He should be in character 
and acquirements all that an able judge is at home." 
There is often a good deal of cant about the poor pay of 
our officials abroad, because they can not compete with 
the representatives of other nations in dinner parties and 
other splendid entertainments. 

I have never been able to recognize the force of this 
kind of argument; because the simplicity and honesty 
of our government have repudiated the falsity, the in- 
trigue, and deception of the old diplomatic art, and asking 
nothing but what is right, submitting to nothing that is 
wrong, it needs no dinner-table diplomacy to attain its 
ends, and ought to be above using it ; and as a principle 
to be reflected back upon its own people, I think that 
our foreign representatives should set forth the simplicity 
and economy of our government, rather than imitate the 
luxury and extravagance of those whose institutions we 
have set aside. 

Further, I think that the whole system of permanent 
or resident ministers, and of permanent squadrons among 
civihzed western nations, only relics of the necessities of 
a past age, and now productive of more evil and difficulty 
than good. In our country the diplomatic path is one of 
those which leads to political elevation, and all who have 
the opportunity are anxious to tread it. Hence, when a 
minister or naval commander finds himself upon a station 
where things are quiet, and gliding along peaceably, he 
feels that he is stagnating, and rather than do this he is 
tempted to raise a breeze of his own ; to cultivate a crop 
of noxious weeds that he may show his skill in felling 
them beneath his diplomatic scythe. Flying squadrons ; 
and foreign ministers only as occasions arose for their 
need, would take much from the motives to discord, and 



382 ' IN CHINA. 

tend to the world's peace ; but, as an unhappy result, 
there would be fewer places for office-seekers. 

Notwithstandmg such views of the manner in which our 
pacific and mihtary relations with civilized nations should 
be maintained, T make China an exception. I now advo- 
cate that the United States be materially represented in 
China by an imposing official resklence and squadron ; 
that here, unless we are to be admitted to Pekin, should 
be the residence of the United States minister or com- 
missioner, and not down in the Portuguese settlement at 
Macao, as far from the Emperor of China as he can well 
get. The consul should be fitted for the complicated 
duties we have seen to be continually pressing upon him, 
and should have a court-house and jail on the official 
grounds. These external displays of power are necessary 
to impress a people who can not read about us, can not 
comprehend our political position, and who regard an 
absence of state and display as the confession of imbecility 
and humility. 

I have recently heard an anecdote related, I am not 
sure of its truth, that the French consul was expatiating 
to the Taou Tai upon the greatness and power of the 
French nation — pointed to its territorial extent, and spoke 
of its great navy. The Taou Tai replied : " It was strange 
the representative of so great a nation should reside in 
Shanghae, in so small a house ;" yet the French consulate 
was a palace to that of the United States. 

To facihtate our diplomatic relations with the Chinese, 
we should have properly trained interpreters of our own, 
and not be dependent upon the Chinese, who will never 
translate an unwelcome truth to a superior among them- 
selves. Our interpreters also ought to be acquainted, not 
only with the colloquial dialect, but with the philosophy 
and literature of the Chinese mandarin language. So far, we 
liave found our interpreters only among the missionaries. 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF CHINA. 383 

On the morning following the night upon which I had 
written the foregoing, I witnessed a large group of Chi- 
namen in the yard in much commotion, two of their 
commoner sort of sedan chairs, and two wretched, rowdy- 
looking foreigners in charge of the marshal of the con- 
sulate. 

A most barbarous murder had been committed on the 
preceding evening upon a respectable, unoffending Chi- 
nese mechanic. Upon resisting some insult offered his 
family, these fellows had gone off, collected a band, and, 
returning, murdered the man, and mutilated him in the 
most savage manner. Such are the incidents by which 
we are to preserve the kindly feeling of the Chinese. 



XXXII. 

SOO-OHAU, THE PARIS OF CHINA. 

On Sunday night, September 29th, after attending ser- 
vice at the American Episcopal mission, I went with Mr. 
Jenkins, the interpreter to the United States consulate, 
on board of his boat for a hap-hazard trip into the interior 
for a few days. 

The neighborhood of Tzang Hai, above the ocean, or, 
as we call it, Shanghae, is that part of China which for- 
eigners can visit with most impunity, and here they do so 
constantly, extending their journeys to hundreds of miles. 
Indeed, some have rented houses at a distance of seventy 
miles from the city, and reside there with their families. 

There are certain points which are so habitually re- 
sorted to by foreigners that no difficulty occurs in regard 
to them. Our object, however, was to reach the great 
city of Soo-chau, about eighty-two miles from Shanghae. 
It is distinguished for its fine and rich work in art. 



384 • IN CHINA. 

and for the extent, variety, and elegance of its dis- 
sipation. 

Our friendly relations with the authorities at Shanghae 
would seem to warrant the exjDectation that we might go 
under their sanction ; but this had been tried before, and 
failed from their unwillingness to take the resjDonsibility 
of any unknoTVTi and mystical vagaries of which foreigners 
might be guilty, or ignorant trouble in which they might 
involve themselves. 

They are simply very w^ell disposed, very obliging, dis- 
posed to be courteous personally, but do not Kke to give 
an official endorsement upon a venture, the extent and 
risks of which they do not comprehend. " Never mind 
any permission, you go — maybe they will not interrupt 
you, or send you back ; and if they do, that's all." It 
was one of those things to be winked at, not permitted. 

" Our boat," the style of conveyance in which this kind 
of traveling is generally done, merits singling out, by a 
description, from the many-shaped and purposed boats 
which course the Chinese waters. In the first place, it 
was of a bright, pale, clear, inviting color, being that of 
the natural wood, varnished. Its general shaj^e was that 
of a double triangle — an apex of four feet broad making 
the bow, and widening for two thirds of the length, and 
then narrowing to six feet from the stern. It was nearly 
forty feet long, by eleven wide, and drew six inches of 
water. About twenty feet of the body, or centre of the 
boat, was inclosed and roofed over with an arching roof, 
like a canal boat, and this was divided into three apart- 
ments — that nearest the bow, a miniature dining-room 
with a miniature table, all leaves, to drop and be out 
of the way, and the two side seats could be made two 
roughing, picnic berths for any extra passengers. But 
the main sleeping apartment was the central division, with 
two roomy berths resting on capacious sets of drawers, 



SOO-CHAU, THE PARIS OF CHINA. 385 

and with provisions for making the whole breadth of the 
apartment one field bed. Astern of this was a wash-room, 
pantry, china closet, and servants' sleeping apartment. It 
seemed that with Chinese condensation of storage, every 
plank in the floor, and around the seats of the apart- 
ments, covered some snug sto whole. The bow and stern, 
about five feet forward, and ten or twelve aft, were 
decked over, the former making a place for comfortable 
dry stowage, and the latter giving all the accommodations 
above and below, for the four crew, the cook and the 
kitchen ; and for working the wonderful scull, or propeller, 
which is the great motive power in all these boats, large 
and small. The flat, arching roof of our apartments was 
made water-tight by a covering of black tarred matting. 

The whole arrangement was so commodious, snug and 
comfortable, that it hardly allowed room for the excite- 
ment of privation and adventure. There was no chance 
to show one's make-shift abilities or cheerful endurance 
of discomfort. 

We slept on board, so as to be able to take advantage 
of the first flood tide of the morning ; and we did so on 
the morning of the 27th, at five o'clock. A mizzling, 
gray morning. We had slept our sleep among the crowd 
of junks off the cathedral of Tonkadoo, and the matin 
bells were calling the worshipers as we loosed our sail to 
the morning fair wind, and gave our hull to the flood 
tide. We had a sail and a mast on our light roof, and 
queer affairs they were. Two side stanchions ascended 
from the lower and more substantial part of the vessel, 
and rose six inches above the roof; upon these was fast- 
ened, across the roof, a strong piece of timber, and resting 
on a pivot, on this beam, so as to be elevated or depressed 
as occasion required, was a triangle of two legs, which 
formed our mast. When raised, a stay from the apex, 
hooked into the bow, kept it from falling aft, and a piece 

17 



386 ' IN CHINA. 

of wood, leading from each leg of the mast to the stay, 
kej^t it from pitching forward. 

We were amid a crowd as we glided up the river. It 
seemed to be a thronged highway of junks, with their 
brown, tan-colored sails. In one group ahead, I counted 
seventy, and there were other groups on every side of us. 
Sometimes we would be among a crowd of them, and I 
feared that one or two heavy fellows bearing down upon 
us must crush us, but just as the crash was coming, these 
boats would glide by each other as if by a magic touch, 
or, at most, there would be but a slight brush. Loud 
and apparently confused shouts of the Chinamen in each 
boat seemed to be a necessary part of the movement, 
though, as they stood with poles in their hands, to ward 
off the impending shock, and without anger in their 
expression, I concluded that the cries were only part of 
the system. They are wonderful boatmen, these Chi- 
nese, but why should they not be? Why should not the 
bird fly, or the fish swim ? — born in a boat, live in a 
boat, die in a boat. One of those which came rushing 
down upon us, had no one it, visible, but an old man at 
the helm, and a child standing amidships. I thought 
they must certainly come into collision with us, but 
neither the old man nor little boy seemed in the least 
embarrassed. Just as she seemed about to strike, the 
boy loosened a string, a lee-board dropped down the side 
of the boat, her lee-way was at once arrested, and she 
ranged up alongside of us, just failing to touch. 

The banks of the river were as animated with life and 
the struggle for food, as the river itself. Hunger feeding 
hunger ; the hunger of man guiding his intellect into con- 
flict with hunger and instinct. All along both banks, 
rising and falling, were the great balloon-looking fisher- 
men's nets. These nets are from twenty to thirty feet 
square, and suspended from the four extremities of two 



i 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF C H I IT A . 387 

immense bamboo bows, crossing each other at right 
angles. A platform is built out on a frame a little way 
into the river ; the junction of the bows is suspended 
from the apex of a triangle of two bamboos, which, pass- 
sing horizontally to the platform, is pivoted to a roller on 
its end ; from this roller another similar triangle rises into 
the air and has a weight at its upper end to counterbal- 
ance that of the net and its fixtures. A rope passes from 
the point of the triangle which supports the net, up over 
that which rises from the roller, and so down to a little 
mat shed on the platform, in which sits the fisherman. 
A child by this rope, and the intervening levers, can raise 
the net from beneath the water where it has been wait- 
ing its finny prey. The business this morning did not 
appear to be a profitable one. For miles and hours I 
watched the rising and falling of these nets, and saw but 
one tiny fish taken. The fishermen, however, do not lead 
a lazy, fruitless life, as, while waiting for their prey, they 
are busy in some other handicraft, net-weaving, or some 
kindred pursuit. But as the life is favorable to contem- 
plation, and Chinese democracy takes its great men from 
all ranks, it may be hoped that these mat sheds are ripen- 
ing some future Chinese philosopher and reformer. As the 
day advanced we met many boats laden with rice straw, 
neatly stacked and thatched. The shores, too, had a pleas- 
ant, rural look — snug, one-storied farm-houses, and many 
neat-looking, thatched-roof barracks standing through the 
fields. About noon we passed the town of Ming Hong, 
a neat-looking village of about thirty thousand inhabitants, 
and quite an extensive rice depot. 

At dark we came to the large town on Pine river, of 
Soong Kong, a place of more than half a million of inhab- 
itants. Our way lay by canal through a portion of the 
city. We were now thirty-four miles from Shanghae. 
An hour was passed at Soong Kong while our men pur- 
chased and ate their supper. 



388 * IN CHIN A. 

It was still misty and rainy on the morning of the 28th. 
We were in a clean creek, or canal, of abont one hundred 
feet width, passing through broad and heavily-grown rice 
fields, with comfortable-looking farm-houses and their ac- 
companying graves. Everywhere on our journey were 
seen those constant dots on Chinese scenery, graves. The 
naked coffin, the matted grave, the bricked-up and tile- 
covered coffin, with a small grove around it — there they 
lie, through the field and on the banks. 

The wind was now ahead, and two of the crew, with a 
Long cord about the size of the little finger, made fast to the 
apex of our triangular mast, were on shore tracking the 
boat. We were aj^proaching.an old and crumbling arched 
stone bridge, just by a large, yellow- washed temple and 
a village. Some six or eight miles behind us were the 
hills, a series of small mountains about forty miles from 
Shanghae, and ahead arose a pagoda, that of the city of 
Ching-poo. At this place we arrived at a little before 
eight o'clock, and remained there two hours, to market and 
breakfast. The clear, creek-like canal we were traveling 
formed the broad moat of the city ; and on one side of 
us, with a few feet of greensward and canal track inter- 
vening, rose the dark city wall, here and there hanging 
out a green banner of clinging shrub and climbing vine. 
The wall was of the black brick of China, laid upon a 
granite foundation, all smoothly laid, and the regular line 
of its upper edge was a succession of loop-holes. There 
were land gates and water gates, the latter passing under 
arches into the city. The narrow ledge of land interven- 
ing between the wall and the water was here and there 
stolen by some j^ious Chinaman, too poor to buy elsewhere 
the ground upon which to place the coffin of his father. 

Our boatmen brought our boat up alongside the bank, 
just where a drawbridge, opposite a city gate, crossed 
the stream. We came here to eat our breakfast ; but in 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF C H I IS" A . 389 

the angle between the bridge and the wall, there was a 
lot of dead squatters, rich in corruption, if they were 
never rich in any thing before, and sovereigns of the soil 
by the right of occupation, and the grace of antique 
usages, but as a crowd of courtier flies buzzed around 
some of the fresher-looking coffins, I insisted upon our 
boatmen changmg to a clearer spot of the green bank. 

If a man had no other inducement to travel among a 
strange people, his vanity ought to be a sufficient incen- 
tive ; I mean by " ought," would in general have suffi- 
cient power. It may be very disagreeably so, but a 
man under such circumstances is individuahzed and great 
for the moment. This momentary distinction is often the 
only pleasure of the kind which most of ns know, and 
therefore we have a natural right to make the most of it. 
How often at home and abroad do we figure in " fuss 
and feather" parades and processions, attracting the eyes 
of the gaping crowd by our decorations, and carrying 
ourselves more proudly because of this popular gaze, al- 
though those who thus tickle our vanity never saw us be- 
fore — see us only for a moment — never will see us again 
— would not know us if they did, and that which attract- 
ed them is no essential part of ourselves, and would have 
the same effect upon any other man. An Indian without 
the adventitious aid of paint and feathers must feel him- 
self by and of himself something when he is the centre 
of a following crowd in a civilized city. Thus as the va- 
rious boat laborers and boat households came along in their 
indifferent, listless, every-day manner, it certainly was a 
tribute to one's importance to see the whole change of ex- 
pression which came over the tenants of these boats when 
they saw us standing in the bow of ours, or with our heads 
through its windows. The men would light up to a grin, 
break from silence into speech, and the women and chil- 
dren crowd the openings of the boat and peep timidly forth. 



390 . IK CHINA. 

Upon leaving Ching-poo we turned suddenly from the 
wall into a narrow canal, on each side of which was a thickly- 
built village. Here we were " distinguished strangers." 
The people in the front line of houses came out into the 
street, abandoning all occupations ; the children looked at 
us with an appalled fascination, but clung to their mothers' 
garments. Most families were at their breakfasts — true 
enthusiasts rushed away from all, careful and prudent 
people brought their bowl of rice and chop-sticks in their 
hands, but suspended operations while they studied us. 
The mere sensualist and gourmand, who had no taste for 
the sublimity of novelty, was content to come only to the 
door, and with bowl and sticks to his mouth, toss the 
snowy grain down his cavernous throat while he took an 
indifferent look at us. Such people preferred food for their 
stomachs to that for their imaginations — the humble com- 
forts of home to any foreign wonders. They wounded our 
egotism, and we have a reason for prophesying evil of 
them ; we read their characters and careers in a single 
glance — " very slow bellies." Those benevolent individ- 
uals who delight in sharing their blessings with others, by 
a shout or a message called out their friends in the back 
settlements, who came down the side lanes to look and 
wonder. We had the general distinction of being foreign- 
ers, and in the sight of these shaven-crown, smooth-haired, 
long-queued, smooth-chinned Celestials, we had the speci- 
fic attractions of bushy, frizzled heads, and bushy, grizzled 
beards. 

Just after passing through this village several small 
boats sculled rapidly by us, one man in the stern, and 
along both sides and the bow sat grave and dignified rows 
of long hooked-beak, dirty, dark-looking birds, about the 
size of well-sized ducks, longer and narrower in the bodies. 
This was an illustration of the further encroachments of 
intellect, making a trained servant of the appetite and 



SOO-CHAU, THE FAEIS OF CHINA. 391 

instinct of an inferior animal. These were the fishing 
cormorants, going out with their masters for a day's 
work and sport. Arrived upon the fishing ground, the 
nnfeathered biped strikes the water with his bamboo 
wand, and over go his pkimed associates, down under 
the water and up again with the struggling silver-scaled 
prey in their beaks, that is, if they were lucky or skillful 
enough to find it. No matter how many boats there may 
be present, or how great the intermingling of cormorants, 
each one returns without mistake to his owner's craft, 
and deposits his prize. 

Various ingeniously contrived devices, wares, labyrinth- 
ine avenues of bamboo, with bamboo stakes across the 
stream, over which our boat scraped and cleaned her bot- 
tom, presented modes of fishing adapted to the tastes 
of the fisherman, and the habits of the fished for. Not 
only was Chinese energy at work upon the animal life of 
the water, but some small families, a young man and his 
wife, for instance, who had just set up in love and matri- 
mony, with little other capital, were busy in their small 
boat in transferring the vegetation from beneath the 
waters to the surface of the soil. These boats, in the 
distance, seemed to be laden with heaps of fresh-cut 
green grass. It was the weed from the bottom of the 
stream. Two slender bamboos are fastened together as 
a pair of long-handled, straight forceps, and being passed 
to the bottom, grasps a few fibres, and then by twisting 
round and round, a mass of the long green hair is torn 
from the heads of the river gods, or whatever else it 
grows upon in the damp depths of the stream. 

All this day would be called a cheerless one by those 
who measure cheer by the presence of sunshine and the 
absence of moisture in the atmosphere. But I could not 
get up any kind of gloom myself. These broad rice 
fields seemed to be laughing with fatness, and nodding 



392 :: I^-N CHINA. 

wavy welcomes as we passed their borders; the people 
seemed to think us such funny fellows — they grinned so 
cheerily; we were such a cause of mirth to others, that 
how could we be less than merry ourselves? True, it 
was very perseveringly rainy, very head-windy, and very 
muddy, so that there was no getting out of the boat for 
a walk, and then our poor boatmen had to track — ^track — 
track on the tow path all the day through the rain and 
through the black mud ; but if there had been no exter- 
nal novelties to attract our attention, we had, among our 
small number of Chinamen, two originals. Ayouk was 
our personal coolie, cook, chambermaid, valet de chambre, 
comprador, etc. He wore an old pair of what had been 
thick white-soled, embossed black- velvet shoes, now 
down at the heel, and only used for out on deck, being 
reverently put off when he entered our apartment. He 
then came in his stocking, or rather legging, feet — cotton 
leggings which had a trace and tradition of once having 
been white; these met and overlapped at the knees, with 
their gaping, boot-like tops, a pair of short Nankeen 
trowsers, likewise of a traditional color, but most hkely 
yellow, and leggings and trowsers were banded together 
with a ]3air of frayed black velvet garters, with embroi- 
dered white satin centres. Overhanging all these was a 
loose, large sleeved, toga-throated, faded blue Nankeen 
jacket, or compromise between shirt and jacket, fastening 
with loops over the remaining few dingy brass bell but- 
tons which, in its days of freshness, had brightened it. 
His head was shaven a breadth of two inches all around, 
and the remainder of his long hair was plaited into a 
queue mingled with the v»^hite cotton threads of mourning, 
showing that he had lost some friend. This black and 
white plait of cotton and hair he wore as a coronal around 
his head. Ayouk was a philosopher and a student of 
human nature, and seemed so satisfied with himself that 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF CHINA. 393 

he was generally good-humored and quite fond of pithy 
remarks. In his many offices he had much to do, and 
got through it all by that great lever, an adhesion to plan 
and system. He had clearly come to the conclusion that 
we foreigners were a very impatient people, that our im- 
patience was a gusty wind that should not turn him from 
his course, that we had certain periodic wants recurring 
with each hour of the day, and, therefore, however long 
and loudly we might call "Ayouk," "Ayouk," he only 
hallooed back in louder tones until he had got ready that 
thing which he supposed was fitted to that hour, when in 
he came with a smile of satisfaction, and was generally so 
correct as to divert the rising want and anger, or get 
plenty of time to meet the former. Thus by having his 
own way he did best for himself and for us. Such was 
"Ayouk," a man worthy in his vocation, and the cause 
of mirth on a gloomy day, or of vexation on a bright 
one, according as he was viewed. 

Our other original was Ang, or son ISTumber Five, 
such being the way in which some parents arithmetically 
name their children. This man was an illustration of the 
power of fashion. An umbrella at all times, and a lan- 
tern even on moonlight nights, is essential to Chinese 
respectability. Ang was the head man on our track, 
that is, the leading man at the rope. When the two men 
jumped ashore to take the tow line, the other one would 
do so in his bare feet, and with no useless protectors 
against mud and rain. But Ang must first lash on a 
pair of straw sandals ; these, however, might have been 
of some use as a protection to his feet, but under his arm 
always was an umbrella, an old umbrella made of paper, 
but split in two or three places so that one third of it 
was gone, and son Number Five, as he bowed himself 
forward and pulled at the tow rope, had little protection 
from the driving rain ; but still he had his umbrella, and 



394 • IN CHINA. 

tlie ludicrous combination could but be an amusement to 
the folk inside. 

The night came on so gusty and adverse that we tied 
up alongside of a cotton field, and lay snugly there, all 
hands sound asleep, until the break of the following day. 

September 30th. — When I first went out of the cabin 
my morning salutation was qua^ qua from a crow. Upon 
looking up I saw a very respectable and portly looking 
individual in glossy black velvet, with a broad white 
cravat around his neck, and I saw, too, that he spoke to 
me from the heights of a grove of lofty trees, and there- 
fore had two beautiful sightsin one look. I had more ; 
with my vision thus elevated, and looking beyond the 
present, it rested in the misty distance upon a mountain, 
at least a rocky, forest-grown hill six hundred feet high, 
with a terraced pagoda springing out of its summit. 

This was the hill and pagoda of Kwan Shan, and the 
hill is not only the distinguishing feature, but gives the 
title Shan. This is a city of nearly half a million of in- 
habitants, and we passed through its suburbs, again run- 
ning the gauntlet of gaze and woudering excitement, 
about ten o'clock in the morning. As usual, a great many 
complimentary remarks were made upon us- — of course 
complimentary, as they attributed to us supernatural at- 
tributes, the only one translated to me being " White 
Devils," and modesty shrunk from any further attempt 
to get at the hidden meaning of the comments we ehcited. 

Gray as this drizzly morning, gloomy as the old graves 
around, and crumbling like this vast empire beneath the 
hand of Time and the influences of Heaven, three granite 
monuments, statues, sprung upon my sight from amid 
the tall grass and rice fields, just before we reached Kwan 
Shan. One was that of a horse, saddled and bridled. 
He stood erect and perfect; and, turning him from his 
original pagan interpretation, he may stand as the emblem 



SOO-CHAU, THE P A E I S OF CHINA. 395 

of the coming man. A second was a colossal, robed 
priest — colossal it was, but the head was gone ; a fit em- 
blem of the future as of the past — a colossal paganism 
decapitated by an unseen power ; and the third monu- 
ment was overthrown, and lay mingling its elements with 
the earth from which sprung the green vegetation. It was 
a bearded goat, still embleming the animal existence and 
hoary sensuality which is to fall with decapitated pagan- 
ism, and give birth to a newer and fresher and purer life. 
We provisioned at Kwan Shan. 

Before getting to this city we had the creek pretty 
much to ourselves. Only here and there a boat disputed 
it with us ; but now, of various forms and sizes and pur- 
poses, they crowded the way. About twelve, one of the 
beautiful but light, lofty-arched stone bridges was in the 
distance before us, and at one we were up with it, borne 
by a fresh breeze, and to the small city of Eding — about 
twenty thousand inhabitants. In the channel way we 
saw for the first time the beautifully-carved decorative 
gilded flower or pleasure-boats of Soo-chau, showing that 
we were approaching this point of luxury and dissipation. 
Several very fair, genteel and handsomely dressed fe- 
males were on board these boats. 

I omitted to mention among the incidents of the morn- 
ing, that while we were lying at Kwan Shan, a large boat 
similar to our own, but handsomely decorated with gild- 
ing and lanterns, came tracking down the tow, path. It 
bore a mandarin's flag, and as we lay just in her way, I 
supposed we would be cleared out ; but, on the contrary, 
the boatmen took in their line, entered into friendly con- 
versation with ours, and sculled around us. The inmates 
of the boat, chiefly females, showed the usual curiosity in 
regard to us. One of them, who stood boldly outside on 
the open stern of the boat, I at first took, from her handsome 
appearance and neat dress, with jeweled coronal, to be one 



396 IN CHINA. 

of the ladies of the family. But as she laid, though 
sportively, hold of the sculling oar, and talked familiarly 
with an old woman who sat by knitting, 1 infer she was 
only a servant girl. We suiDposed from the flag that it 
was the family of the new Taou Tai going to Shanghae. 

Every one who knows any thing about us at Shanghae, 
knows that we drink the waters of an opaque muddy 
stream, a solution of all imaginable filth and dead China- 
men. It was therefore refreshing, on the second day out, 
to see the water assuming a clean, clear green appearance. 
It was new and refreshing to look upon. But at three 
o'clock on the afternoon of the last day of September, we 
entered upon a beautiful lake. It was about two miles 
wide where we crossed it, and the road, or tow path, in 
its whole length, passed over a granite causeway. How 
long the lake is I do not know, but its clear waters were 
liquid emerald. 

At half past five in the evening we came to alongside 
of the bank in a suburb of Soo-chau. 

Soo-chau — the Paris, as it is called, of China — with ten 
miles in circumference of the walls, like London, is as 
nothing to the Soo-chau without the walls. One of these 
extra mural addenda is said to extend ten miles in every 
direction. Situated on the waters of the Great Lake, it 
is throughout intersected and traversed by broad and 
thronged water avenues, arched over with lofty stone 
bridges. Two millions of people, at the very least, are 
here gathered together, engaged in the turmoil of Chi- 
nese thrift, and the splendid excesses of Chinese dissi- 
pation. 

Whenever, in Shanghae, I have been attracted by any 
beautiful piece of embroidery, of carved or lacquered 
work, of silk or satin, I was told it came from Soo-chau ; 
and if by any chance I happened to see a fair, gracefully- 
formed, pleasant -expressioned girl, she too came from 



SOO-CHAUj THE PAEIS OF CHIN'A. 397 

Soo-chau. There was one in Shanghae for whom her hus- 
band paid three thousand dollars, as his evidence of his 
appreciation of her beauty; and there were several others 
of the Soo-chau chizeling. Even their local dialect is 
said to flow in softened tones, and to be that chosen for 
songs and tales of love. 

All these excellences and attractions were sustained 
by our experience as far as it went. A Chinese maxim 
says, that earthly happiness consists in being born in 
Soo-chau, living in Canton, and dying in Lian-chau ; the 
first giving physical beauty, the second a life of luxury, 
and the third the best cofiin for the final repose of the 
body. The topography of Soo-chau is written in forty 
volumes. My stay at the place was from the evening of 
the last of September to noon of October 1st, and my 
view of it extended over seven industrious hours. But 
as an inch of honest sample enables one to judge the 
whole bale, and the truth of the character asserted for it, 
so my readers must put up, as I did, with my inch of 
observation of Soo-chau. 

As we were now two or three days beyond any bounds 
prescribed by treaty for foreign travel, it became neces- 
sary that we should not provoke any idle curiosity, or 
make it the duty of any zealous mandarin to send us back 
in charge of a file of soldiers. We therefore concluded 
the most prudent plan would be to shut up our windows, 
and n6t expose ourselves until after dark. I will here re- 
mark, for the benefit of all who may be interested in the 
result, that I found this lying hid from my fellow-men, 
with an ordinarily fair human conscience, and for only 
two hours, so irksome a business, that I can not recom- 
mend any one to do so with an oppressive crime as the 
motive. 

Whilst we were thus concealed, we sent for the pro- 
prietor of one of the small-sized decorated pleasure or 



398 'in china. 

flower-boats, which are common in this city of luxmy, 
and negotiated with him to take us in his boat on the 
morrow to " Tiger Hill Mound," a celebrated temple and 
pleasure resort near the city ; and also a turn through the 
city within the w^alls, for which we were to pay him three 
Mexican dollars, and were to bind ourselves not to land 
or show ourselves after we got within the city proper ; 
and we were to transfer ourselves at an early hour in the 
morning, before observers were about, from our boat to 
his. 

During this negotiation, w^hich, like all Chinese bar- 
gains, required a great deal of talk, we had the proof of 
softened tone of voice and amenity of expression. In 
commenting upon us to our own Chinamen, this indi- 
vidual, instead of calling us "AVhite Devils," spoke of us 
respectfully as the " gentlemen from afar." 

At six o'clock in the morning his boat was alongside 
of us, and quite a fancy affair it was. Divided into three 
apartments like our own, but much smaller — a short un- 
covered bow, an ante-room open in front, and with two 
ornamental stools and tables ; our own central apart- 
ment, or parlor, with a small mat-covered settee, two 
rose-wood mat-covered stools, and rose-wood little table, 
with blue-figured cloth cotton cover, and under it a brass 
pan of coals for the convenience of smokers. Back of 
thisw^as the open deck, for the occupancy of the crew and 
scullers. The sides of our apartment were of ornamental 
panel-work of fanciful divisions filled in with three layers 
of transparent shell, like ground glass, with the exception 
of small glass panes, four inches square, in the centre of 
each panel — an eye for the w^orld without and all its do- 
ings, while nothing but its softened light came through 
our shells. A fringed crimson satin curtain ornamented 
the front of our parlor, w^hile sliding doors shut it out 
from both back and front. 



SOO-CHAU, THE PARIS OF CHINA. 399 

Our ship's company consisted of a voluble, bland- 
tongued old gentleman, who, with a long pipe, occupied 
the bow, a young man, two ladies and two babies, who 
filled the platform in the rear, and did the sculling ; one 
lady and the man at the oar at a time. And so we started 
to glance at Soo-chau. 

Soon after getting under way I noticed that the man 
on the after platform was neatly arranging, one on top 
of another, some clean blue and white cotton napkins, 
and in a few minutes he opened the door and passed in a 
steaming roll wrapped in a white towel, and opening it, 
he handed each of us one of the napkins smoking with 
hot water. This was the courteous offer of the means of 
the morning toilet, the napkin being intended to bathe 
the face. This . courtesy was immediately followed by 
covered porcelain cups of hot tea without milk or sugar, 
and the leaves floating in the infusion. These were atten- 
tively replenished during the whole of our journey. 

For several miles our way lay along the city wall, black 
brick, or brown granite, where it could be seen, but most 
of it was draped, from bottom to top, in close-clinging 
creepers and running vines. We were approaching what, 
in the distance, appeared a thicket of junk masts. But we 
were among the marts for meeting the substantial wants 
and necessities of this great gathering of men. These 
were the signs of bamboo yards in which lay horizontal 
forests of this valuable and universally useful gigantic 
grass, which on shore and on the water, in labor and in 
literature, meets almost every necessity of a Chinaman. 
From these bamboo marts, or hongs, we passed to those 
of the more solid timber of the forest, which lay in quiet 
rafts, or being picked and moved and transferred from one 
owner to the other by the hands and pikes of busy gangs 
of men. A gentleman curious in such matters, calculated 
that the rafted timber lying at one time at Soo-chau, laid 



400 IN CHINA. 

end for end, would extend from Shangliae to San Fran- 
cisco. Lime hongs, buffalo hongs, and shrieks, yells, with 
ear-crushing grunts, tell us of pig hongs. From this 
avenue of cumbrous and miscellaneous utilities, we entered 
upon one of elegant luxuries and superfluities. Along the 
water lay s^Dlendid flower-boats, gay with carving, gild- 
ing, paint and silk hangings, tasteful with vases of flowers, 
and with skillful arrangements for shutting their inmates 
to privacy without gloom. Many of these boats were 
occupied by elegantly and handsomely, not tawdrily, 
dressed girls, who fully vindicated the claim of Soo-chau 
for the beauty of its women. There was nothing im- 
modest or bold in the^r appearance, and yet, with their 
soft, fair complexions, they were but as whited sepulchres, 
those whose floating houses were the gates of death. 

The stores along this avenue were alternations of gay 
lacquered ware, toy, picture, porcelain, fan and flower 
shops. These last were very numerous, and with their 
green plants and bright flowers, in fanciful vases, arranged 
on both sides on shelves, gave a very refreshing and gay 
character to the street. These flower shops seemed to 
be avenues to garden grounds back of them. 

Gliding for some miles through such scenes, our water 
avenue led out into the country some little distance to a hill 
surmounted by a pagoda — Tiger Hill Mound, Heutsheu- 
Shan. This hill can specially be called classic and historic 
ground. I had also a family interest and connection with 
this place, a family connection not quite so ancient and hon- 
orable as that with IsToah and Adam, but still sufficiently 
remote to hide original rascality in antique mistiness, 
which I take to be one of the secrets of value in the 
oldest families. It appears that when the Shemitic branch 
of the Wood family were tongue-divided from their Ja- 
phetic cousins at the Babel mutiny, their " confounded" 
tongues could not pronounce the final letter of their 



SOO-CHAU, THE PARIS OP CHINA. 401 

name, and they called it Woo. N'ow most of my journey 
had been through the kingdom of my Chinese cousins, 
this Woo family, of which, briUiant Soo-chau was their 
capital. 

I am, of course, bound to give the most authentic ac- 
count of such relatives. It appears, then, that some six 
centuries before the Christian era one of the kings of 
Woo died, and was buried on this hill where we are now 
standing ; and, what was of more importance, three thou- 
sand two-edged swords were buried with him. Three 
days after this burial a white tiger was seen standing on 
the grave of this ancient worthy, and hence we have the 
name of " Tiger Hill Mound." Some three hundred 
years after this event, Tsing-sz-wang — he who built the 
great wall — wanted these swords, and like a prudent man 
who looks after his own business, he came here and had 
the ground dug over in search of them, but he did not 
find them. Of course not. There can be no doubt the 
swords had been there, but had passed away beneath the 
rust of two hundred and ninety-two years, the exact pe- 
riod which had elapsed before the wall-buildmg Tsing-sz- 
wang crime to look for them, which he did two hundred 
and twenty years before our era. 

He, such a determined soldier, was of course very 
much irritated by the disappointment, and seeing a tiger 
standing in front of the grave, drew his sword and made 
a death-intended blow at him. The tiger vanished, and 
the blow fell on Thousand Men's Rock ; and as I stood 
upon the rock where the mark of the sword is stiU 
pointed out, all this must be true. Time rolled on, and 
other and different associations clustered around this re- 
markable place. About a thousand years after the sword 
digging, a Buddhist priest used this rock for a pulpit, and 
a thousand men, hence its name, sate on it to listen to 
his doctrine. More obdurate than stocks and stones. 



402 , IN CHINA. 

they listened unmoved and incredulous, but a sensible 
and sensitive stone standing near nodded assent and ap- 
proval, being immediately received as the first disciple, 
and in the pool at the foot of the rock a water-lily sprung 
up and bloomed forth its testimony. 

Such are some of the authentic facts in the old history 
of Tiger Hill Mound, as given by most veracious Chinese 
historians. 

There have undoubtedly been many other important 
events associated with this locahty ; but the most recent, 
perhaps, will be the impression left upon those who fled 
from our bearded visages, that in the seventh moon of 
the Hien Fung dynasty, two of the ancient white tigers 
appeared and flitted a brief space over their old haunted 
hill. 

We landed at a clean paved street of toy, fan, and pic- 
ture shops, upon which opened the entrance to a Bud- 
dhist temple. Passing through a wayside of miserable 
beggars and a portal guard of dirty priests, we passed 
through the temple into a maze of neat and picturesque 
gardens and grottos, rock- work, lake and pleasure house, 
all fragrant with the odor of the golden mandarin flower, 
and, what was most wonderful, all was clean and neat — 
the white was snowy. Almost every step was a succession 
of pleasant surprises. From a common-place paved and 
walled alley, which seemed to be leading into some cham- 
ber, we would come suddenly upon a darkly-shaded rock- 
work garden, looking as though it were buried in a moun- 
tain, so solemnly secluded and quiet. On a rock, and 
reached by rugged steps, would be a neat little tea- 
house, and on one side of this quiet place would be a 
more capacious tea-room, looking from one terrace to an- 
other. We had scarcely entered this before some one 
placed two cups of tea on a table before us. A circular 
hole in the brick wall, large enough for a man to pass. 



SOO-OHAU, THE PARIS OF CHUSTA. 403 

would conduct from some alley or room to such a piece 
of rock-work. All of Tiger Hill Mound was made of 
these temples and gardens, its naturally picturesque rocks 
made use of in the designs of art. At one point, a nar- 
row, time-worn, blue marble bridge, with well-like open- 
ings through its slabs, spans and looks down a narrow 
gorge of moss-grown rocky walls, to a stream below. 
This gorge is said to be the effect of the sword of the in- 
dignant sword-digger. 

Having reached an open temple, in which were sold 
refreshments, on the summit of the hill, and on its per- 
pendicular side, we had spread before us a magnificent and 
far-reaching view of field, lake, grove, and village, with 
Soo-chau some miles distant, with, however, nothing to 
make it conspicuous but three jDagodas — the great de- 
fect, from the low character of the buildings, of all Chi- 
nese cities. A blue range of mountains, about thirty 
miles distant, were a prominent feature. 

Most of the people, who manifested so much surprise 
at our appearance on our way, undoubtedly saw, for the 
first time, those wonderful barbarians of whom they hear 
so much. But when we stepped ashore in the streets, 
around Tiger Hill Mound, the first effect of surprise in 
those whose eyes lighted upon us, was startling to our- 
selves. Any one coming suddenly to a door as we passed, 
would start back in wonder ; and, if a woman or a child, 
run in terror, as though a monster had risen before them. 
I wore our usual dark cloth costume, and heavy leather 
boots, with my undress uniform cap, but a light blue silk 
Chinese frock instead of a coat. As the English failed 
to find Soo-chau during the war of 1842, I think I may 
make the boast, so far as it is worth any thing, of being 
the first foreign naval officer ever seen in that city — cer- 
tainly the first of the United States service. 

I wish now to present to ethnographical and psycho- 



404 , IN CHINA. 

logical people, to the controllers of costume fashions, and 
to boards for the getting up military uniforms, a fact for 
their study. On our way, the first effect, apparent to us, 
of our burst upon the Chinese vision, was mirthfulness. 
The sleepy sombre boatmen enlivened to a grin ; young- 
females laughed without mercy, as did all the children 
who were old enough not to be frightened ; and one old 
lady, whose 



Nose was thin, 



And rested on her chin 
Like a staff," 

laughed as she, most likely, had not laughed for many 
years. I felt a practical benevolence in giving her sides 
this merry shake upon the edge of the grave. Even the 
surprised people upon " Tiger Hill Mound," passed from 
surprise to mirthfulness. Now, the questions are, whether 
we were, as individuals, ridiculous specimens of our race ? 
— whether there is any thing, which, not being familiar- 
ized to the native taste by use, is essentially ridiculous in 
our costume ? — or, whether the Chinese mental organiza- 
tion is such that a sudden novelty startles it into merri- 
ment ? I am inclined to attribute it partly to the essen- 
tially ridiculous character of western costume, and partly 
to the mental characteristics of the Chinese, which none 
of the many students of that people have yet developed. 
We know there is the ridiculous in nature and art. The 
gravest of ns will laugh at a caricature costume ; and a 
monkey will move us to mirth, while a rhinoceros will 
raise our wonder ; and yet, if all the tribes of North 
American Indians were gathered together, and two full- 
dressed Chinese were paraded before them, I doubt if 
there would be as much laughing as we two sober, quiet 
citizens got up in our less than one hundred miles' jour- 
ney between Shanghae and Soo-chau. 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF CHINA. 405 

Sociable as our venerable boatman was, when he had 
us stowed away behind his translucent shells, I observed 
that, as soon as our acquaintance might be discreditable 
and dangerous, he very prudently dropped us. We ex- 
pected him to show us the sights, and take the lead in our 
wanderings, but, upon looking around for him, we found 
that he had mingled with the thickening throng of spec- 
tators which pressed around us, and was looking at us 
with as much wonder as though he never laid eyes on us 
before. He had landed us in a retired corner where there 
were none to see our relations. Notwithstanding that he 
cut us so dead, he managed to prompt some of the spec- 
tators, generously, to lead us where he wanted us to go ; 
thus often are the impulses of the multitude directed, by 
such cunning fellows as our boatman, to their own ends, 
Messrs. Masses thinking all the while their movements to 
be of their own spontaneous volition. Our old boatman 
was a model politician. He was, however, a timid one. 
Upon one occasion, when the crowd grew noisy and tur- 
bulent — not, however, from any mischievous purposes, 
but only from the excitement natural to a crowd — he 
vanished entii'ely, and only reappeared when we were so 
near his boat as to promise a safe arrival at it without 
any chivalric exertions of his own, verifying the Chinese 
proverb, setting forth the insecurity of politicians — " the 
horse's back is not so safe as the buffalo's" — and ours 
was an old horse trained in tricks. He had, early in our 
journey, dechned taking us to the city within the wall, 
even by a water gate. He explained that nothing was to 
be seen inside equal to what was outside, and that, though 
he had no great apprehension for us, if detected, he would 
lose his boat, and, what he regarded as nearly as valuable, 
his head. I offered to treble his price if he would take 
us in, and as he declined this, or any compensation short 



406 , IN CHINA. 

of the value of his boat, I felt that it would scarcely be 
just to urge him to the fulfillment of li^s contract. 

On our return, he conducted us through one of the 
business canals ; and the crowd of boats of all kinds, lying 
along both sides, or moving as they could through the 
busy and thronged channel ; the collision and the crash- 
ing ; the cargo-boats, laden with ,bales and packages of 
manufactured articles and raw materials, and an occasion- 
al pleasure-boat picking its way, like our own, daintily 
and timidly, as a full-dressed lady might, caught in the 
business streets of New York — all this entanglement of 
boats, with consequent shouts and cries of boatmen — 
Chinese cries, too, though with Soo-chau softening — pre- 
senting an exciting scene of confusion, especially when we 
met at the arch of a bridge. A locking of Broadway 
omnibuses is as nothing to it. Among the varied boats 
lying in this canal, we passed, in several places, groups of 
post or post-office boats, for carrying the mail. 

The first of these I saw in the open river, long, sharp, 
low, round, and black, was gliding over the water like a 
snake, and with almost as much rapidity. The only seen 
moving power was a broad oar or paddle, near the after 
end of the boat, dashing into the water mth great quick- 
ness. As the boat rushed past us, a man was seen sitting, 
almost reclining, low in the stern, with the handle of this 
oar grasped between his feet, and giving it the rajjid mo- 
tion with his legs, while he as rapidly plied and guided 
the boat by another paddle with his arms. The boat was 
a sharp canoe, rounded over, and securing the mail from 
the weather by black painted matting. 

By half past one o'clock we were back at our own 
home-like boat, and Soo-chau, so far as we were concerned, 
was done and done for. 

As there was now, thanks to an accomplished purpose, 
no further need of concealment, we showed ourselves free- 



SOO-OHAU, THE PARIS OF CHINA. 407 

ly in and about our boat. A crowd of the neighboring 
population, of all ages and both sexes, gathered on the 
bank to look and laugh at us, and it ot^curred to me I 
would do a good work for posterity. I had no further 
interest myself in Soo-chau or its vicinage ; but other for- 
eigners may visit there, and might not be the worse for 
a pleasant impression of foreign visitors left upon these 
humble villagers ; indeed, who shall say that it may not 
be the means of opening the Chinese empire to intercourse 
with the world ? I could not say a kind parting word to 
them, but I had a small bag of ship biscuit ; I brought it 
to the window, and commenced throwing fragments of 
the biscuit among them, especially to the women who 
had babies in their arms. I had, however, no idea of the 
excitement I was to get up. They all lost their timidity, 
and rushed down to the edge of the water, some of them 
into it, to collect the bread. One rather good-looking 
young woman, happening to get quite a large piece at the 
beginning of the scramble, seemed to think it made us 
old acquaintances, as she came forward with an air which 
said, " Of course you will give me as much more as I 
wish," as she quietly held out her hands. Seeing what 
was going on, the whole village came flocking like crows, 
and scrambled, with much .merriment, for the handfuUs 
of biscuit I cast among them. I had nearly got through 
with my stock, when I saw an old lady come waddling 
along with outstretched hand, and uttering ludicrous cries 
of distress, lest she should be too late. As I saw her 
coming, I reserved a whole biscuit, which, as she plumped 
down through the crowd to the water's edge, I put in her 
hand, to her great joy; and then, as the boat shoved off, 
I cast among them the remainder of my fragments, and 
we left, amid a parting salute of cheerful faces and kind 
looks — I hope of good wishes. 

We tracked our boat against a high head wind all that 



408 . IN CHINA. 

day ; and at night, when it came the turn of the " fifth 
son of his father" to go ashore, although there was the 
hght of a thin clouded moon, he had, in addition to the 
skeleton umbrella, and the tow-line, a hghted paper lan- 
tern in his hand, asserting his strict observance of the 
rules of Chinese respectability. Our head boatman was 
desirous of stopping at ten o'clock at night, although we 
had then a fair wind which would have relieved them all 
of much labor. He made many objections to proceeding, 
and at length said we were coming to a part of the river 
infested by pirates. We, however, loaded our single fowl- 
ing piece, and ordered him to go on. He did so until 
midnight, when he again made fast alongside the bank, and 
as the day's work had been hard, we let him have his way. 

On the 2d of October, in the morning, we found tha,t 
we had passed through Kwang Shan, although we had 
towed most of the way. We had made about thirty miles 
in twelve hours. For a little distance, this morning, we 
had a fair wind, which was a refreshing novelty, and the 
day was comparatively clear ; but we got into terrible bad 
company, and an awful amount of it. 

During our stay about Shanghae this summer and fall, 
we have watched, with jDleasure and interest, the progress 
of these ripening fields; we have seen them, not from the 
beginning when the ground was laboriously prepared, 
and each spear of rice set out by hand ; but we have 
seen them carefully irrigated with water drawn from the 
streams, much of it by hand ; and as yet, excepting the 
limited destruction by the gale of September, within the 
limits of tide-water, nothing has impeded the happy prog- 
ress to a full and fat harvest. Much of our pleasure in 
the present excursion has been derived from the broa^ 
expanse of green and golden fields through which we have 
passed ; regular beds of green vegetables being inter- 
spersed with the fields of rice. 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAEIS OF CHINA. 409 

As we stood at our cabin-door, after breakfast, enjoy- 
ing the day and the prospect, we noticed, at first only a 
few black objects flying over the surface of the grain- 
fields, and at once suspected their terrible character. A 
very little further progress confirmed our suspicions. We 
were in an atmosphere of locusts — they filled the air like, 
as we noticed last year, the driving flakes of a heavy snow 
storm, far as the eye could see, upward and around in every 
direction. The green grass was rusty brown with them, 
layers deep ; and also the green gardens and every spire 
of rice was fixed upon, and darkened by several at once, 
disgusting as plague spots upon the healthy body, and yet 
the air was darkened by coming myriads of the unpor- 
tioned voracious host. In this one day, all this season's 
labor and hopes, all these fair fields, are to be laid waste ; 
the people have labored to find one day's meal for these 
locusts — in every sense of the word, beastly insects. It 
was pitiable to see these poor farmers, men, women and 
children — ^it was disease, death and starvation to them. 
Yainly as sweeping out the ocean, they were with gongs, 
cries, cloths tied to poles, endeavoring to frighten them 
away ; even the sport which the poor children made of 
this work was melancholy in its ignorance of the coming 
misery. 

Once our boat glided close into the bank near an old 
woman who had been laboring hard at the fruitless labor, 
and was standing in an attitude of despair. I suppose she 
rhay have read in our countenance our sympathy in their 
wretchedness, for she threw up her hands as she looked 
at us, and spoke in a tone of hopelessness. Her words, 
as translated by my companion, were few, but significant 
— " We shall all starve." All day long we passed through 
this consuming plague. In the afternoon there were men, 
women and children, busy with sacks and baskets, gath- 
ering up those insects— I at first thought for food ; but 

18 



410 • IN CHINA. 

upon inquiry, learned that they received two cash (the 
five hundredth part of a dollar) for every catty (one and 
one third pounds); The cash may be useful to the people, 
but the impression upon the locusts may be appreciated 
from the fact that while the fields were abandoned to tlie 
locusts, and the air was filled with them, these people were 
getting all their supplies from the water's edge without 
making the least perceptible impression upon the mass. 
Towards night our persevering head wind increased to a 
gale, but our boatmen tugged against it, as we were anx- 
ious to reach tide-water, and to pass the triple-arched 
stone bridge of Woodang before its gates should be closed 
at eleven at night, so as to go down with the first ebb. 
We reached the bridge at ten, when the wind was blow- 
ing terrifically, with heavy hail and rain, so that we just 
passed the bridge and came to, rejoicing that a storm so 
annoying to us was death to locusts, and life to China- 
men. 

We were now twenty-four miles from Shanghae, and 
the gale still continuing, my companion being obhged to 
be in Shanghae before the outgoing mail, started through 
mud and rain, on foot. I at first thought of accompany- 
ing him, but as much of these Chinese roads are a muddy, 
slippery, narrow ridge through fields, I concluded to wait 
alone the chances of the weather, and get along with our 
Chinamen by my signs and their sagacity. I had the 
proof, very soon, that I was safe in that of Ayouk. In- 
deed, language seemed of no use in the honest, straight 
forward wants of life, and silence quite a luxury. Noth- 
ing was wanting. At dinner time, Ayouk, walking 
peremptorily up to the table where I was writing, was 
sufficiently expressive. The dinner was put on without a 
word ; but \vishing an absent bottle of pickles, I merely 
closed my left hand as if holding the bottle obliquely, and 
picking up a fork, I thrust it two or three times at my 



SOO-CHAU, THE PA 11 IS OF CHINA. 411 

hand — the pickles were immediately brought. I next 
wanted a small plate — that was easy enough. I pointed 
to a large one, and raj)idly drew the circumference of a 
smaller in the air — the plate came. I next held my hands 
four inches apart, and drew a circle in the air two inches 
in diameter — that meant a can of preserved strawberries. 
A point to a crumb of bread, and another circle in the 
air, meant biscuit. They all came at the first sign, and 
never a word spoken. 

By two in the afternoon the wind had hauled a little 
more favorably, and although the tide was against us, we 
got under way. I was now alone with my friend's boat- 
men, and if before this I have felt in any way ungrateful 
to him or to them, I wish now to acknowledge my fault, 
and to thank them for one of the merriest rides I ever 
had in all my wanderings. These boatmen were essen- 
tially the children of still life. They had been brought 
up to the perils of tracking and poling a boat through 
some stagnant canal. Said the great canal engineer — 
" Rivers have been made to feed canals." Said my boat- 
men — "Flowing tides and fair winds are necessary to 
show the skill of poling in dead water through reed 
swamps and over mud banks." 

At first the tide was against us, and we ventured to 
spread a little sail to the following breeze, and got along 
according to all rule, and as stupidly right as all the other 
boats which, with sail spread, were accompanying us down 
stream. But there came a change in the tide ; instead 
of being conservatively in opposition, it became a rush- 
ing torrent of progress. My boatmen shrank from the 
power of favoring wind and tide, and struck the sail. 
Now, with her bulging roof and mat-shedded quarter, our 
boat had the head and stern proportion of what is called 
a bottle-fly or spider ; and consequently the sail being off 
the bows, the wind took us on the balloon quarter, and 



412 - IN CHIN A. 

away she went, stern foremost, down stream ; fortunately 
we were in a long reach which gave us a stern run of a 
mile clear of every thing. The thing was so ludicrous I 
could not make up my mind to stop it. But unfortunate- 
ly there was a bend in the river, a promontory, and with 
a crash, crashing our rudder, we came up stern foremost 
on that. The mud held the stern long enough to let the 
mnd bring the bow round, where, for some distance, we 
regularly whirled and waltzed down the stream, cushion- 
ing, like a billiard ball, from one bank to the other. 

The poor boatmen seemed to think it was only neces- 
sary to keep busy with the long bamboo poles over the 
bow, trying to push this tail- strong boat into a proper 
course, but as there was only room for two to push on 
the narrow bow, and since the loss of the rudder the 
helmsman steered by the sculling-oar, there was one 
still unemj)loyed ; it was the umbrella, lantern-bearing 
" fifth sou of his father ;" and as he seemed to think it 
necessary to be doing something, whenever the boat got 
into embarrassment he plunged a rag mop, with a long 
handle, into the water, and, with nervous rapidity, washed 
ofi" the bow of the boat. While engaged in this laudable 
pursuit, the boat rushed madly on to a bank, and the " fifth 
son of his father," swab, mop and all, went overboard. 
After this catastrophe, at which time the boat glided 
high up the bank, and all hands jumped overboard to 
push her off, it was concluded to take the mat covering 
off the stern, so that less wind would be held there. 
Still, this did not answer ; the boat was stern-heavy, and 
beyond pole management in the central wind and tide. I 
now tried to suggest that a little sail on the forward part 
of the boat would balance this heavy stern, but they either 
did not understand me, or could not understand a princi- 
ple contrary to the " ola custom" of their fluvial training, 
and insisted upon keeping the l)oat close in to the dead 



SOO-CHAU, THE PAKIS OF CHINA. 413 

water of the bank, where mud and grass would moderate 
its speed to the control of the poles. It was no dis- 
couragement to them that an occasional fix upon a mud- 
flat required all hands to jump overboard and shove her 
off. 

In this laborious manner we worked our way down 
stream, while boat after boat, with sail set, rushed by us 
down the tide. We had reached within four miles of 
Shanghae at eleven o'clock at night, and the tide was still 
flowing down, when all at once a rushing sound came up 
the river, and Avith it the flood-tide in a swelling tidal 
wave or bore ; it swelled furiously under our boat, foam- 
ing along the banks. The anchor was cast overboard ; 
the chain straightened out rapidly, and we were fixed to 
a flood-tide for the next six hours, I went ashore with 
Ayouk as a guide, and wading through puddle and mud, 
reached the settlement, my room and my bed, about one 
in the morning — and slept. 

Soon after my return from this trip, we left once more 
for the south of China. In my wanderings through the 
streets of old Shanghae, I picked up many interesting 
remains of a long-buried antiquity. I caught the disease 
of " old crackle." 

A very certain kind of disease to which strangers are 
subject in China, ll^orth China especially, is " old crackle ;" 
rather it is the third and last stages of a disease, and is apt 
to be severe according to one's susceptibility in taste, and 
fertihty of imagination of the subject. It is caught in old 
curiosity shops, and, indeed, the tendency to visit them is 
a predisposition to the malady. The first stage manifests 
itself in a desire for curious bronzes, the second for antique 
vases of rare colors, and in the third, " old crackle" comes 
upon us with tremendous and exhausting power. 

At first, when you are in the bronze and bright-color 
stage, you look with contempt upon the lined and marred 



414 • IN CHINA. 

and scarred bowls, vases and cups, which here and there 

are seen in the curiosity shops. You are not yet out of 
the fresh greenness of your own soil. You are under 
the untutored fondness for garish brightness, unworn per- 
fection ; and if you take to antiquity at all, it must be that 
antiquity which, in bronze and vase, keeps its form and its 
color perfect. 

Perchance, you listlessly point to one of these old cracked 
affairs and ask its price. The answer strikes you with 
amazement. You now look a little more at old crackle. 
By degrees your vision brightens, strengthens ; tlie deli- 
cious disease is upon you ; in those cracks and lines you 
see the beautiful wrinkles of an old age ; but such old 
age ! Coarse features, skins, and complexions are early 
marred by the lines of age, but when they are drawn 
over fine textures and symmetrical forms, you admire the 
beauty which wins time's touch so gracefully, and at once 
you fall in love with " old crackle," as did the lovers ot 
Ninon d'Enclos, despite her sixty years. 

In purchasing the specimens of the porcelain art, lost to 
modern times, you buy the association of centuries — the 
tastes, the social characteristics of an age artistic and re- 
fined, when forests grew where the cities of the great 
republic stand, and even where those of old mother En- 
gland stand. The nobleman whose drawing-room it dec- 
orated, has passed away ; his palace has passed away ; 
soil and vegetation have accumulated over the old vase 
which has cracked beneath the heats and frosts of centu- 
ries, but retaining its complexion and its polish more per- 
fectly than the enamel of a shell. When all this comes 
up, you are smitten ; money has no value ; and eighty 
per cent, exchange will not save you. 

I had an opportunity, by care and perseverance, of 
adding some fine specimens to my collection. 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 415 

XXXIII. 

BATTLE AND BLOOD. 

When we left the south of China, the waters of Pearl 
River, and the vicinity of the " City of Rams," we had 
indications of the growing animosity of the Cantonese 
toward all foreigners. The strong Anglo-Saxon current 
of arrogance crossing and ruffling that of the Chinese, 
the persistent and lawless manner in which the Chinese 
gave expression to their animosity, rendered it evident 
that ere long a national rupture must occur, as we tolerate 
no lawlessness but our own. 

From the more extended relations of the English and 
Americans, the chances were that the task would devolve 
tipon one or the other of these powers. But the author- 
ized murder of a French missionary, Chapdelaine, in the 
province of Kwang-se, rendered hostility from the French 
government a prompt possibility; inasmuch as that govern- 
ment has so much less responsibility to the nation, in de- 
claring war, than either the English or ourselves. 

As the French have no commerce in China, the war on 
their part would be one of religious propagandism ; on 
the part of Enghsh and Americans, one of expected com- 
mercial extension. 

Within a recent period the English had to complain of 
various outrages, which they were unlikely to tolerate, 
even though, if the Chinaman's story were heard, they 
arose from provocation. 

The American complaints were of the attack, by a half- 
piratical Chinese fort, upon the American steamer Kum 
Fa, out upon a pleasure excursion with a party of gentle- 
men, ladies and children. Several shot were fired at her, 
and one struck her, if I remember correctly. 



416 . IN CHINA. 

There were several classes of Chinese extenuators ; 1st, 
those who recognized the wrongs done them, and yet 
admitted their faults — advocates of justice ; 2d, those 
who, engaged in some petty underhand Chinese commerce 
in collusion with subordinate Chinese authorities, dreaded 
a rupture ; and 3d, those who, from animosity, jealousy, 
and hatred of their own authorities, were anxious always 
to put them in the wrong, and the Chinese in the right — 
a smaU but violent faction — who worked in China, and 
with the press in the United States and England. The two 
latter said the Kum Fa was fired into because she was in 
a branch of the river where she had no right to be. But 
such a ferocious and savage assault, for a thoughtless in- 
discretion, admitting it to be such, was the exponent of a 
feeling which would not long tolerate peaceful relations. 

Then again came the firing upon the American steamer 
Willamette, and, upon these sources of irritation, the 
shock of the murder of an American gjntleman, Mr. Cun- 
ningham, of Fu-chau, by a party of Cantonese, in the 
streets of that city. Whether accidental, or provoked 
by imprudence, it added to the general feeling of inse- 
curity and animosity. 

Added to these specific incidents were the general in- 
sulting language, the dangerous and ofiensive missiles 
with which all foreigners were likely to be assailed if out 
of the narrow precincts of the factories at Canton. The 
posting of the inflammatory handbills before we left the 
neighborhood of Canton, showed that on the part of the 
Chinese the hostihty was assuming some form. In this 
general hostility to " Barbarians" there seemed to be no 
disposition or abifity on the part of the authorities to pre- 
vent or punish the outrages of lawless bands. 

Even though the outrages were committed by what was 
apparently a government fortress, most likely it would be 
said the ofienders are not agents of the government, but 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 4lT 

pirates and marauders, who had temporarily occupied an 
abandoned fortification. Thus the people felt no restraint 
in their aggressions upon foreigners, either from the fear 
of their own or other powers. From the haughty exclu- 
siveness of the court of Pekin, it deprived itself of all 
means of gaining correct information in relation to for- 
eigners, and was open to any deception or imposition 
which it suited the interest or designs of the Cantonese 
authorities to impose upon it ; and one of the most promi- 
nent of these was to create the impression that the for- 
eigners were easily managed, controlled, and subdued by 
the great skill and vigilance of those authorities. Morbid 
and infuriated Canton was the eye and ear through which 
the Chinese empire saw the world. In this state of affairs 
the Imperial Commissioner at Canton, Yeh-Min-Ching, 
was of all persons the one most fitted to precipitate the 
coming collision. One of the highest rank in the em- 
pire, he added to all the arrogance of his race that of his 
position ; of large ability and unscrupulous character, he 
could produce a political paper flowing with sentiments 
of justice, morality and humanity, whilst coolly, in support 
of his tyranny, he floated his sovereignty upon rivers of 
blood — ^it being his boast that he had cut off the heads 
of one hundred thousand rebels, seventy thousand, it is 
said, in one year. He had acquired much reputation by 
his successful dealings with rebels, and, in his ignorance, 
seemed to think he might culminate his glory by expelling 
all foreigners from his jurisdiction. 

Under such circumstances, only an ostensible cause of 
collision was wanting, and it would be a limited and un- 
reasonable view of the subject to suppose that the merits 
of the particular difficulty would at all be an expression 
of the real cause of hostility. It was only the break in 
the barrier which held the flood, but not the flood itself. 

It was therefore scarcely a surprise when, at Shanghae, 
18* 



418 , IN CHINA. 

in October, 1856, we heard that a collision had occurred 
between the British and Chinese authorities at Canton. 
The account of the difficulty reached us with much per- 
version and exaggeration. It has since been so fully and 
so critically examined, to answer the ends of various 
parties, that a mere statement of its nature is all that is 
necessary here. A lorcha, the Arrow, licensed by the 
authorities of the British colony of Hong Kong to fly the 
British flag, had been seized at Canton, accused of or de- 
tected in smuggling. This proceeding was resisted on 
the part of the British authorities, the controversy be- 
ing carried on across the walls of Canton by documen- 
tary communication, with all its delays and difficulties, 
although the parties were within a few hundred yards of 
each other. In the course of this correspondence the 
British demanded that the discussion should be carried 
on and the matter decided by a personal interview with 
the Cantonese authorities within the walls of Canton, a 
privilege which had been yielded by treaty, but never 
conceded in fact. In making this demand, the British 
asked it not only for themselves, but for all other nations. 
If there had been any disposition on the part of the Chi- 
nese to avoid a difficulty, this would have been a natural 
means of doing so. Such a concession, however, accorded 
but illy with the arrogance of Yeh, or the animosity of 
the fierce democracy of Canton. The proposition and all 
concession were refused. To enforce the demand, and, 
under the erroneous impression that a few shot and shells 
would bring the Cantonese to terms, a limited district of 
the city, including the government buildings and the Ya- 
mun, or residence of the Imperial Commissioner, were 
shelled, and the wall breached by the naval forces under 
the command of Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. 

Whatever may be the view taken of these events, by 
interest, policy, or honest judgment, as to the policy and 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 419 

expediency of this course, all acquainted with, the charac- 
ter of this distinguished officer know that his action must 
be viewed with the respect due to abilities and experience 
directed by the principles of the Christian gentleman. 
Although he might execute the severest measures from a 
sense of duty, the glory of military achievement was no 
compensation to him for the inhumanities of war. Among 
the more reckless and impulsive, his efforts to spare blood- 
shed and desolation were made a reproach to him. 

With exaggeration and perversion, rumors of these 
events reached us upon the " Bund," the gossip exchange 
at Shanghae ; and also that our newly-arrived sloop-of- 
war, the Portsmouth, was mingling in the fight. 

Commodore Armstrong, therefore, hurried with the 
San Jacinto down to the scene of hostilities, and arrived 
in Hong Kong on the 8th of November, 1856. 

The Chinese, in return for the attack made upon Can- 
ton, had retaliated with some spirit and energy. They 
had made a bold attempt to blow up H. M. S. Barracouta 
by means of fire rafts. Four of these were at great risk 
towed out of the way, and she only avoided the fifth by 
slipping her cables. They had also nearly succeeded in 
blowing up the English club-house in which were quar- 
tered at the time several hundred English soldiers. 

Yeh had put forth a proclamation offering a hundred 
taels apiece for the heads of all foreigners, or " barba- 
rians," as the paper read. It was said, by some, that the 
reward was only for the heads of English barbarians. 
If this distinction were made, it took nothing from the 
practical effect of this savage measure of war, as the head 
of a Yankee in the bag of the fortunate Chinaman who 
succeeded in getting it would be worth as much as that 
of an Englishman ; so literally, in this case, were the sins 
of the fathers visited upon their children. 

Most fortunately the United States ship Portsmouth, 



420 . IN CHINA. 

Commander A. H. Foote, was at Hong Kong when these 
troubles opened, and the Levant, Commander Smith, ar- 
rived there in their early stage. With all these threat- 
enings to om- coimtrymen and interests, under the judi- 
cious management of Captain Foote these ships were 
moved up the river to the anchorage at Whampoa, and 
their crews quartered on shore for the protection of the 
lives and property of our citizens penned up in the lim- 
ited locality of the Canton factories, and threatened with 
destruction by an infuriated Chinese soldiery and mob. 
There being no French force present. Captain Foote de- 
tailed a part of his force for the protection of the French 
consulate, which, upon the arrival of the Virginie, was 
relieved by a detachment from that ship. 

In view of the threatening state of affairs — the events 
which had already occurred — the known hostility and 
ferocious animosity of the Cantonese to all foreigners — - 
the blood-thirsty proclamation for heads put forth by the 
chief, who openly avowed and represented this hostility 
as a political principle — it is to be presumed that Captain 
Foote, or any officer of prudence and discretion, would 
have spontaneously taken these steps. But, in addition, 
Yeh had given official notice that he could not be respon* 
sible for the safety of those who remained in the factories ; 
and Captain Foote received the following dispatch from 
the only civil representative of the United States then 
in Canton : 

United States Consulate, 

Canton, October 21, 1856. 
Sir, — 

I inclose you herewith a copy of an official com- 
munication I received this morning from Harry S. Parkes, 
Esq., Her British Majesty's consul. 

From the tenor of Consul Parke's dispatch you will 
perceive that a collision may possibly arise within twenty- 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 421 

four hours between Her British Majesty's forces and the 
Chinese, and as the lives and property of American citi- 
zens may thereby be placed in jeopardy, I have taken the 
earliest opportunity to notify you of the danger, in order 
that you may timely place a proper and sufficient force 
here to protect American lives and property. 
I am, sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

Oliver H. Peeey, 

United States Consul. 

Commander Andrew H. Foote, Esq., 

Commanding United States Steamer Portsmouth, 
Wbampoa. 

It is a discouraging picture of human nature, that not- 
withstanding so clear an indication of the proper and 
humane duty of Captain Foote, his course has been se- 
verely censured, not only by a low, mercenary, commer- 
cial interest in China, but by an unhappy faction in our 
own squadron. 

Such unjust censures spread through the press of the 
United States, came to the knowledge of the leading 
American citizens in Canton and Macao, who addressed 
Captain Foote the following letter ; 

Macao, 9tli February, 1858. 
Dear Sir, — 

We have been informed that in some of the Ameri- 
can newspapers, it has been stated in a communication 
from China, that the force taken by you to the factories 
at Canton in the month of October, 1856, while diffi- 
culties existed between the English and Chinese authori- 
ties, was not only not necessary there, but that you were 
requested to withdraw it. 

In justice to yourself, we beg to say, that of the ne- 
cessity for the force there at the period in question, we 



422 , IN CHINA. 

are fully satisfied, and that it imparted great confidence 
and security to the Americans generally in Canton ; we, 
of course, can not know if you were requested to remove 
it, but are convinced, that had you done so, the danger 
to life and proj^erty would have been greatly increased. 

We are very happy also to avail ourselves of this op- 
portunity to express to you our acknowledgment for the 
prompt and willing manner in which you had given your 
assistance and support to your countrymen in this part 
of China whenever it seemed to you that you could be 
of any possible service, or that circumstances required 
them. With our best wishes, 
We remain, 

Your friends and countrymen, 

James Puedon, Jr., of Canton. 
S. Wells Williams, 
Gideon Nye, Esq., 
John B. French, 
C. F. Preston, 
W. C. Hunter, 
J. B. Endicott, 
James Napier, 
Henry Devins, 
C. F. Harding, 
To Captain A. H. Foote, 

U. S. S. Portsmouth, Hong Kong. 

Upon the arrival of Commodore Armstrong in the flag- 
ship, all was in a state of turmoil and feverish excite- 
ment. The wrongs and injuries, real and imaginary, of 
the English residents of Canton, were also those of our 
countrymen, accumulating year by year, and nursed in 
remembered wrath for future settlement. The conflict 
of diverse and equally arrogant races had commenced. 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. -423 

and the age-built mountains of national exclusiveness and 
bigotry were about being torn from their foundation, to 
open a future of cheerful and humanizing national com- 
munion. 

It is not strange that many of our countrymen in China 
felt the English war to be equally our war, especially as 
the right of admission of officials into Canton had been 
demanded by the English for us, as well as for them- 
selves, and, if granted them by treaty, it must, by im- 
plication, be conceded to us ; and in itself the demand 
seemed only just and expedient. 

It was opposed to the chivalry of our countrymen that 
the English should be left alone to redress common 
wrongs, and to secure common rights. Besides, there 
was an impatient feeling to have a helping hand in open- 
ing the tempting glories of the future. 

Such considerations and impulses caused most of our 
countrymen to fraternize with the English — to assume 
the conclusion that we must be side by side with them 
— to feel some shame that we had not taken the initia- 
tive upon our past grievances, and to be querulous of any 
steps of our authorities, keeping our forces from the con- 
flict. 

There were others, with cooler hearts and more calcu- 
lating heads, who by long- established usage assimilating 
to Chinese principles of monopoly, had the streams of 
commerce flowing by time-grown channels in fixed res- 
ervoirs, out of which none dipped but themselves. Such 
were of course averse from any measures which might 
change the existing state of things, and promise a future 
in any way diflerent from the stationary ^Dast. 

There was also a lower class, who filled their cofiers by 
a small smuggling trade, sneaking along the river coasts 
in collusion with petty mandarins. These were also in 
the interests of peace at any humiliation, and could go all 



424 . I N C II I N A . 

lengths for its preservation without any sacrifice of their 
honor. 

It was reasonable that the English, not understanding 
the principles of our foreign policy, or the responsibility 
of our public agents, should have expected our material 
support in the present difficulty, and believing that the 
course to be pursued would depend solely upon the in- 
dividual views and feelings of the commander-in-chief ot 
our naval forces, they only acted out a natural pohcy, and 
did but their duty in directing toward him every honor- 
able effort to win him to alliance and concert of action. 

By all these various influences, interests and opinions 
was Commodore Armstrong assailed upon his arrival at 
Hong Kong. Old and settled residents claimed to exer- 
cise an influence upon the ground of experience, and it 
would have been presumptuous not to receive such ex- 
perience, and then try it by common sense and true prin- 
ciple. It might have been equally injudicious to permit 
these men to construe their own experience. Sometimes 
the greater the experience the greater the perversion, 
when a man has been walking by his prejudices and in- 
terests. It is experience, time, and the constant pres- 
sure of the same circumstances which make the " golden 
lily" foot of the Chinese lady, but it cramps five toes into 
one, and unfits her for locomotion. Such was the kind 
of experience authoritatively asserted by the Commo- 
dore's Chinese counselors ; and as he did not accept it, 
he exposed himself to all the hostility of the machinery 
which wealth could place at the disposal of wounded van- 
ity and an intolerant selfishness. 

It was determined to give every proper protection to 
our countrymen and their legitimate interests ; to redress 
every wrong done them ; but to abstain from entering 
upon any war of our own, or entering into any alUance 
with that of the English. 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 425 

To be near the scene of action, Commodore Armstrong 
ran up in the San Jacinto to Whampoa, the nearest an- 
chorage to Canton; and not knowing the extent to which 
American interests in that city might be endangered, or 
whether the present force was adequate to the emer- 
gency, he sent an addition to that force from the flag- 
ship ; two boat-howitzers, with Lieutenant Bowen, the 
marines under command of Captain Simms ; Assistant 
Surgeon Semple accompanying the party. 

In the course of the same day, however, finding that 
the difficulties between the English and Chinese had set- 
tled into form, and that the latter were taking regular 
measures for resistance and attack, he determined, much 
against the views of the belligerent interest, to withdraw 
all our force from the city of Canton, lest we should be com- 
promismg our neutrality. But, for the security of such 
of our citizens as chose to exercise the right of remain- 
ing in Canton, he determined to anchor one of the sloops- 
of-war off the factories, as a defense and refuge for our 
consul and citizens in case those buildings were assaulted, 
as they were liable to be at any moment. „..__ 

The propriety of these steps was confirmed by Captain 
Foote, who came down from Canton to report to and 
advise with Commodore Armstrong ; and on Saturday, 
KTpvember 15th, Captain Foote was on his return to Can- 
ton, in a small, unarmed ship's boat, when an unhappy 
incident occurred, which changed all our relations, gave 
the most exultant hopes to tlie belligerent party, and gave 
to the Enghsh the promise of our alHance, and did, to a 
limited extent, give them our efficient aid. 

In the boat with Captain Foote were the Rev. Mr. Macy, 
seamen's chaplain at Whampoa, Lieutenant Macomb, Uni- 
ted States ship Portsmouth, Assistant Surgeon Gihon, of 
the United States ship Levant, and Robert Sturgiss, Esq., 
of the house of Russell & Co. As they approached a point 



42G - IN CHINA. 

iu the river, defended by four very strong and heavily- 
armed granite fortresses, these opened afire upon the boat 
with round and grape shot. Mr. Sturgiss snatched the 
boat flag and waved it conspicuously ; but the firing still 
continued, the shot falUng thick around the boat, which 
was compelled to return to the San Jacinto. Indignation 
now became very general in the ship, even among those 
who most regretted the unfortunate event. It was fire 
to a magazine. 

The cause of the assault could only be a matter of con- 
jecture. At the commencement of the English difficulty 
these forts had been taken without resistance by the 
English, and at once abandoned by them. Some sup- 
posed that the attack upon our boat was the result of ac- 
cident from not recognizing her flag ; one conjecture was, 
that the forts, after being abandoned by the English, had 
been occupied by Chinese pirates and junk men ; another, 
that our having a force in Canton had provoked the hos- 
tility of Yeh ; and, again, it was conjectured that Yeh, in 
accordance with his character, had determined to make 
war upon all foreigners. 

That evening, in an interview with Commodore Arm- 
strong, he said to me, he had been very desirous of pre- 
serving our neutral relations, but cii'cumstances seemed 
to render it impossible ; that this outrage required a 
prompt lesson, and that to-morrow he should transfer his 
flag to the Portsmouth, and with that shijD, and the Le- 
vant, attack the forts. 

Very early on the morning of Sunday, November 16, 
Lieutenant James C. Williamson, of the San Jacinto, 
and Mr. Ayres, the j^ilot, were sent, in our fourth cut- 
ter, to sound the channel toward the forts ; and at the 
same time an order was sent, by a branch of the river, 
around the forts, for the return of the detachment sent 
the day before to Canton. The busy note of warlike 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 42*7 

preparation, the getting up and passing ammunition, the 
transfer of men to the two ships, were in strong contrast 
with the sacred character and habitual usages of the day, 
and our Chaplain, the Rev. Robert Given, who had joined 
us, for the first time, the day before, found that his first 
message of the glad tidings of great joy, and of peace and 
good will amongst men, must silence its soothing sound 
before the clatter of arms and death dealing-arrangements. 

As with these occupations the morning wore on, some 
anxiety began to be felt for the return of Lieutenant Wil- 
liamson, in the fourth cutter, which seemed unusually de- 
layed. At last, however, she was seen approaching, and 
as she neared, the form of a dead, or wounded, man 
lying in her. It was that ^ of Edward Mullen, the cox- 
swain, who, while standing in the bows of the boat 
sounding, had his head carried away by a round shot 
from one of these same forts ; as the mangled trunk was 
passed over the ship's side, the indignation and spirit of 
vengeance were roused to the highest degree of excite- 
ment, and was eloquently manifested by looks and fierce 
murmurs, although discipline prevented its violent expres- 
sion. There was now only one course left. 

Captain Bell, of the San Jacinto, with the returned de- 
tachment from Canton, Lieutenants Lewis and Carter, 
went on board the Levant, of which ship Captain Bell took 
command. Captain Smith being left in command at Canton. 
He subsequently left there and with Captain Simms of the 
marines participated in their respective positions in the 
capture of the forts. 

Commodore Armstrong, with his secretary, Mr. Van 
Den Heuvel, Lieutenant Rutledge, of the San Jacinto, 
Assistant Surgeon Daniel, who requested to accompany 
me, and I, went on board the Portsmouth. Here, now, 
we experienced one of those embarrassments which arise 
from the exceedingly injudicious nature of our squadron 



428 . IN CHIN A. 

on the coast of China. In the rapid tide currents of the 
river, our sailing vessels were comparatively unmanage- 
able, and the steamer San Jacinto was too heavy to as- 
cend to the harrier. It could hardly be expected that 
peaceful merchant steamers could be induced to tow ships- 
of-war under the guns of hostile fortresses. However, we 
did employ the steamer Willamette, commanded by an 
American citizen, of Savannah, Georgia, Captain Curry, 
and the little American steamer Kum Fa, of which one of 
her owners, Mr. Cooke, also an American, took charge. 

-It was fortunate that we could procure tw^o vessels 
under the American flag, for that of Portugal could not 
compromise its neutrality by coming into our employ, and 
that of England would have identified us with the English 
quarrel, and these were all the flags covering the steamers 
of these waters. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, the Portsn^outh in 
tow of the Willamette, the Levant in that of the Kum Fa, 
we started for the scene of action, which we reached in 
about an hour, when the Willamette cast us off, within 
five hundred yards of the fort, one of the largest, lowest 
down the river, on its left bank. 

It was a beautiful, soft afternoon, like those of our 
Indian summer ; not a breath was stirring, and the river 
flowed without a ripple. All nature seemed to rest in 
sleepy repose, and tune the heart to peace. At one mo- 
ment the long granite walls and dark embrasures of the 
forts, without sound or stir, gave effect by their unnatural 
repose to the prevailing stillness and quiet — the next, the 
whole scene shook with noisy anijnation ; the belching of 
fire from these embrasures, the roar of the guns, and the 
hurtling of the grape and round shot around the Ports- 
mouth before her anchor had been let go, were mingled 
with the loud and clear orders, and the preparations on 
our deck for bringing the ship into action. The Chinese 
had boldly l:)ogun the war. 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 42Sr 

There was a significance in tlie crack of these guns and 
the whisthng of the shot, beyond that of their destructive 
association. There was no waiting for explanation, no 
delay to see our purpose ; but, on the contrary, no choice 
left us. Here was stern, defiant and unmistakable war. 
I felt my respect for our enemy rise with this reception 
of us, and, at the same time, I confess to an indignant 
wish to see it returned with vigor. 

I have no wish to give a dramatic exaggeration of 
the scenes of our conflict with the Chinese ; but I feel 
that there is a difficulty in giving a truthful representa- 
tion of them to those who are accustomed to the mistake 
of regarding the Chinese as destitute of courage or mih- 
tary art. It is true that the resulting loss of life would 
seem to indicate a contest of no great difficulty, but all 
agree that the little loss of life, under the circumstances j 
is mysterious and inexplicable. There can be no mistake 
about the Chinese standing to their guns and fighting 
their forts well against the more destructive machinery 
of their enemies. In some of their recent conflicts with 
the English, as I was told by a British officer present, 
they stood to their guns on board the junks until they 
were cut down at them. There can be no mistake about 
the hazard of a small body of foreigners pulling on shore in 
boats right in the face of the fire of these heavy fortresses, 
and marching up to them, still in the face of that fire of 
grape, gingals and rockets, over muddy swamps and ditches. 
That they were not all swept away can only be accounted 
for, by the fact that the Chinese, having fixed the elevation 
of their guns, had no ready means of altering it, and this 
elevation was generally too great. Their great disadvan- 
tage was the want of explosive shell. Finding that their 
fire from the waUs did not annihilate the small body of 
men approaching them, they generally fled from a hand- 
to-hand conflict. I do not regard this as a want of ordi- 



430 . IN CHINA. 

nary personal courage. Had their assailants been Chi- 
nese, the parties would have met, as they often do, to the 
great loss of life. But they have not yet got rid of that 
mystical exaggeration of the prowess of the bearded bar- 
barian which strikes them with a panic dr^ad of personal 
contact. This, however, they are getting rid of Again, 
the small effect of the fire from the walls, so inexplicable, 
and so cheering to the assaiUng party, was equally mys- 
terious and proportionably discouraging to those defend- 
ing the walls. 

When the fire first opened from the forts. Commodore 
Armstrong, with his staff, and the Rev. Mr. Macy and 
Purser Dobbin of the Portsmouth, were standing on the 
poop, and so thickly came the grape, that a little greater 
depression of the guns must have swept it. 

Without steam, without wind, in a narrow and un- 
known channel, it was sometime before the Portsmouth 
could bring her guns to bear and open her fire, being all 
the time exposed to that of the fort, but when she did, 
at about half past three, the roar of her heavy and effect- 
ive battery, and its quiver through the ship, was cheering 
and consolatory. Although Captain Foote fought his 
ship himself, the Commodore remained on deck, a specta- 
tor of the engagement ; and to those whg had nothing to 
do but look on, it was a great satisfactioil to observe the 
collected coolness and the perfect discipline of both offi- 
cers and men, the more remarkable as the officers and 
crews of two ships, who now met for the first time, were 
working together, and many, if not most of them, for 
the first time in their lives under fire ; this, too, in a ser- 
vice which had abolished the lash, as a means of disci- 
pline, five years before. 

One earnest and enthusiastic captain of a gun, most 
anxious for accuracy of aim, would ask any officer who 
passed him just as he finished training, " Will you please 



BATTLE AND BLOOD. 431 

tell me, sir, how that shot falls ?" and Peter Gam, the 
captain of the San Jacinto's band, who had no quarters 
on board the Portsmouth, occupied himself with a mus- 
ket on the poop-ladder firing at any Chinaman he could 
see about the fort. v ^'^ 

The Levant, most unfortunately, had run on some rocks, 
about a mile below, and could not come into the action, 
much to the annoyance of all on board, whose only con- 
solation was in marking the efficiency of our shells. They 
were also gratified by seeing how wonderfully we escaped 
the hostile shower, for, as one of her officers subsequently 
remarked to me, " the water about you was tossed like 
snow." In the subsequent engagements, the Levant, by 
her prominent position and efficiency, made up for this 
afternoon's misfortune. "^ 

The Portsmouth kept her broadside upon the nearest 
fort, by means of a spring upon her cable, but this, in the 
course of the action, unfortunately came up, and she tailed 
round with her stern upon the fort, thus losing, in some 
degree, the efficiency of her fire, and exposed to the rak- 
ing of that of the fort. It therefore became necessary 
to tear away the cabin, to run a gun out of the stern ports. 
Whilst this was going on, a thirty-two pound shot came 
directly into the centre of the cabin, carrying away the 
right arm and dreadfully crushing the right hip of Pat- 
rick Melvin, a marine. 

He was at once carried down to the sick bay, where 
the Surgeon of the Portsmouth amputated the arm and 
made such surgical appliances as the case demanded. 
From the cabin to the sick bay was an immediate transi- 
tion from the excitement to the horrors of war. Its gloom 
was more shown than dispelled by candles. The blood 
from the wounded man damped his pallet and the deck, 
while his groans mingled with the crash of the guns di- 
rectly overhead, the more impressive from being so near 
and yet unseen. 



432 . IN CHINA. 

About dusk, the Commodore feeling anxious about the 
Levant, had a boat manned and pulled down to her, ac- 
companied by his secretary and myself. As we left the 
ship, it being dark enough to make the flashes of the guns 
quite bright, the cross-fire between the ship and fort had 
a very good efiect. That of the fort was very much 
slackened, and before we reached the Levant ceased en- 
tirely. 

It was the Commodore's purpose to have the Levant 
kedged up against the ebb tide, but before we reached 
her we met, through the gloom of the night, a long line 
of boats towing her up. Upon getting on board we 
found her j^resenting all the discomforts of a man-of-war 
ready for action, and very much crowded with men and 
officers, the cabin torn away, and the ward-room all aslop 
from wetting down the decks while passing powder. 

It had been originally intended, after the nearest fort 
had been silenced, to land and assault it ; but as the night 
came on dark and rainy, and we had no guides, nor any 
one acquainted with the plan of the fort or the nature of 
the surrounding ground; as we were entirely ignorant of 
the extent of the Chinese force, or their facilities for as- 
sailing our necessarily small landing party from ambus- 
cades. Commodore Armstrong, gave orders that no land- 
ing should be attempted that night. 

We all. Commodore, Captains and officers, sat down to 
supper in the Levant's ward-room, and uj^on this occasion 
I could but remark how the conventionalities of rank, 
which separate, in peace, classes of officers into messes, 
were all swept away by the first exigencies of war — the 
very emergency for which it is all intended as a means 
and a preparation. 

The Portsmouth was still out of position, and it was of 
course expected that with the coming day the forts would 
reopen theii* attack upon her ; and at a little after one 



BATTLE AKD BLOOD. 433 

o'clock on Monday morning we returned to her, and as 
we drew near could see, by the gray light of a clouded 
moon, the little steamer Kum Fa, Golden Flower, busily 
at work endeavoring to get the ship into an effective posi- 
tion. The crews of the two ships had now been steadily 
at work, from Saturday afternoon until this Monday morn- 
ing, in the preparations for the attack and in working the 
ships ; and those of the Portsmouth, all of Sunday after- 
noon in fighting the guns. All Sunday night both crews 
were at work, and no murmur or objection came from 
them. When I got down on the berth deck of the Ports- 
mouth it was pitiably picturesque to see the groups who, 
temporarily relieved from labor, seemed to have fallen 
asleep in the air, and then to have sunk in a heap upon the 
deck. And yet these men received no further encourage- 
ment or thanks from their government than the mere ap- 
proval of the general order which Commodore Armstrong 
issued to them. With so little personal encouragement 
how can we expect to have an enthusiastic ISTavy ? Once 
we treated our men as devils, now we assume them to 
have the pure and disinterested motives of saints. What- 
ever the merits of the contest, the men who display sub- 
ordination and bravery should have some testimonies of 
it — a scrip of paper, or a cheap medal. Officers may be 
trusted to other considerations. 

I rolled up my coat for a pillow, and got an hour's sleep 
on a mess-chest among the men. With daylight came a 
mizzling rain, but still the forts did not reopen their fire ; 
fortunately for us, for with the strong tide ebbing and 
flowing, it seemed impossible to get the ships into posi- 
tion and keep them so. Nearly all day the Portsmouth 
lay aground, and entirely at the mercy of the forts ; an 
officer of a division remarked to me, they could rip our 
three masts out and we could not bring a gun to bear. 
Still, as Monday wore on, they remained passive and 

19 



434 ' IN CHINA. 

silent. This course upon the -pfxri of the enemy seemed 
to call for a change of action on ours. It will be remem- 
bered that we came up to the attack to redress our injury 
and insult, but ignorant of the motives and authorities 
which caused it. 

The present silence of the forts might arise from their 
inability to continue further hostilities, and that near- 
est us was seen to be very much broken down and dilapi- 
dated, in which case sufficient correction had been in- 
flicted. Or else, having made the first assault in a mistake, 
the authorities had determined to refrain from further 
contest. In either case the cessation of hostilities during 
Monday, afforded a favorable opportunity for opening a 
correspondence with the Chinese authorities, to ascertain 
whether we were to be at continued war, or our difficulty 
was to terminate with this correction of the insult to our 



For the purpose of opening such a correspondence with 
the Chinese Imperial Commissioner, Commodore Arm- 
strong returned with his staff to the San Jacinto, at Wham- 
poa, leaving Captain Foote in command, and with orders 
to get and keep the ships in efficient position, but to make 
no attack upon the forts unless provoked to do so. 

The following extract" from the report of Commander 
Foote, refers to the opening action of this contest : 

" I can not help believing that the heavy and j^rolonged 
cannonading of the Portsmouth, on the 16th inst., was 
most important in preparing the way for the operations 
which succeeded. The powerful battery of this ship, con- 
sisting of sixteen eight-inch guns, each of sixty-three hun- 
dred weight, so paralyzed the nearest fort, which was 
within a range of four hundred and eighty yards, that it 
was never afterward able to do the injury which it might 
otherwise have inflicted. I am disposed to think, too, 
that a ship of a smaller calibre could not have sustained 



PEN, PEKCIL AND POWDER. 435 

alone the hot fire to which this vessel was that day ex- 
posed, from the four forts combined, much less could have 
silenced the two nearest forts, as she did, under a brisk fire 
of between two and three hours' duration." 



XXXIV. 

PEN, PENCIL* AND POWDER. 

He who stands upon the elevated bank at the river's 
mouth, and looks down upon the sea into which it 
empties, will see clearly the narrow channel winding its 
way among the foammg breakers, and ofiering the only 
safe entrance to the harbor ; but ttiose who, down upon 
the ocean surface, upon a level with those breakers, are 
struggling in a small boat to pass them, see no such clear 
channel. The line of foam, upon the one hand, overlaps 
that upon the other, so that all looks a continuous whirl 
of ingulfing surf Carefully must the helnq.sman watch 
the cresting wave on the starboard, and then on his port 
bow, as with prompt decision he avoids first the one and 
then the other, picking his dangerous way by coolness 
and skill. A fault in his eye, a mistake in his hand, the 
failure of an oar, and boat and crew are swallowed up and 
lost. 

In like manner, he who now undertakes to judge the 
events of the East India squadron, at the time we are 
considering them, is in the position of him on the river's 
overlooking banks, with the whole scene spread out be- 
fore him, but safely removed from its agitation, its respon- 
sibiUties, and its dangers. In a like favorable and secure 
position was the government which coolly deliberated up- 
* Chinese "Writing PencU. 



436 IN CHINA. 

on these events, and gave to Commodore Armstrong its 
approbation, after he had securely guided his country's 
interests and his own reputation, through the new and 
unchanneled sea which threatened his destruction. 

The conflict in w^hich we were now involved gave a 
fixed form and greater activity to the various and con- 
flicting interests which, honorably and dishonorably, at- 
tempted to influence the commander-in-chief of the 
squadron to their ow^n ends. The voice of most was for 
war. 

When it is considered that we had received repeated 
wrongs and insults from the Chinese ; that there was not 
the least probability of these wrongs being redressed, 
except under compulsion ; that there was no security for 
the future; that the Chinese not only permitted us no 
representative at their court, but would not allow face to 
face interviews between our highest representatives and 
their own inferior officials; that they were adepts in a 
tortuous, evasive, and interminable correspondence, and 
returning with contempt our communications in English, 
threw upon ns the burden of translation. When all these 
things are considered, it might be difficult for an officer 
to determine whether, in a progressive age, public opin- 
ion and that of his government might not require him to 
avail himself of the present rupture to break down this 
exclusive arrogance. Also, it must be considered that the 
instructions of the government are, upon many points, 
necessarily of a vague character, admitting of difierent 
opinions ; and the course which might win the approba- 
tion of one administration, might, upon the same in- 
structions, be disapproved by another, or, indeed, by the 
same administration at a difierent time. 

However, Commodore Armstrong had determined, as 
his policy, to limit, if possible, our jDresent hostilities to 
the event which called them forth, and, great as were 



PEN, PENCIL AKD POWDEE. 437 

the motives, enticing as the opportunity, to avoid all acts 
which could, by the Chinese, be construed into an En- 
glish alliance. When two people, as the English and our- 
selves, alike in all respects, were at war at the same time 
with a people so ignorant of us both as the Chinese, one 
fighting them in one part of the river and one in another, 
the difficulty of keeping up distinct action was great — ■ 
the difficulty of impressing the Chinese with a conviction 
that we were not in alliance, greater. 

For suspending hostilities and entering into correspond- 
ence with the imperial commission, a storm of opposition 
assailed the commander-in-chief. Had he not done so, 
where and when would the affair have terminated ? 
What so many desired would have been effected, for 
good or for evil — a permanent war with China, and En- 
glish alliance. 

On Monday afternoon, we proceeded down the river in 
an oared boat, belonging to Mr. Sturgiss, and manned by 
Chinamen. We kept a sharp look-out upon the river's 
bank, when our course lay close to it, and also upon the 
Chinese boats in the river. It is at all times infested with 
pirates, but, under present circumstances, we should have 
been an honorable and profitable prize. The movements 
of one boat were very suspicious ; from the earnestness 
with which it was watched by our Chinese boat's crew, 
they must have thought so, as well as ourselves. How- 
ever, we reached Whampoa without interruption. 

So much of the force had been drawn from the San 
Jacinto, she was almost defenseless in case of an attack. 
Boys, servants, and all, there were not more than sixty 
persons on board. With the same boldness with which 
they had attacked the English ships with fire rafts, they 
might, by dropping one or two junks, or lorchas, along- 
side, in the dark, have thrown two or three hundred men 
on board, and overwhelmed our small number — true, they 



438 . IN CHINA. 

must make up their minds to much loss. The Commo- 
dore ordered forty of the San Jacinto's crew to return to 
her. On board the San Jacinto we found Dr. Peter 
Parker, United States Commissioner to China — and I here 
take the opportunity to do this gentleman justice. The 
indignation which was caused by the suspension of hostili- 
ties craved some object of personal attack, and hence 
jumped to the conclusion that it had been instigated by 
the commissioner; and he was assailed by violent lan- 
guage and intemperate newspaper comments. One gen- 
tleman went so lar as to protest, on the part of himself 
and other American residents of Canton and Hong Kong, 
verbally and in writing, against this assumed action of Dr. 
Parker. The truth was, Dr. Parker had nothing to 
do with the matter. The course of action was determined 
on, and the following letter drawn up, before he reached 
the San Jacinto. I allude to these things here, as illus- 
trative of the conflict of opmion, and because the oppor- 
tunity occurs of exonerating the United States Commis- 
sioner from any blame in the matter. He fully sustained 
the action which Commodore Armstrong had decided on, 
but was not responsible for it. 

COPT. 

UxiTED States Flag-Ship Sax jAcrsrio, 
TThampoa, Novemler 11th, 1856. 

SiK :— 

I regret to have to notify your Excellency that it 
became ray duty, on the 16th instant, to assault and silence 
the works known as the " Barrier forts," on the river 
between Whampoa and Canton. The following are the 
unpleasant circumstances which imposed this duty upon 
me. 

On the loth instant, a boat of the United States ship 
Portsmouth, in which were Commander Foote of the 



PEN", PEN^CIL AI^D POWDER. 439 

PortsmoTith, with other officers of my command, and 
citizens of the United States, in passing peacefully to Can- 
ton, was repeatedly fired upon by both round and grape 
shot from these forts, and impeded in their course upon 
waters in which she had a right to be, and to expect pro- 
tection rather than assault. No possible mistake could 
exist as to the nationality of the boat, as she bore not only 
the flag of her country, but it was waved distinctly toward 
the forts by Mr. Sturgiss of Canton. 

This outrage is the more unjustifiable, because, dur- 
ing the hostilities existing between your government' and 
the English authorities in China, it has been the endea- 
vor, both of myself and the officers under my command, 
carefully to preserve that neutral position proper to the 
friendly relations existing between the governments of the 
United States and of the Chinese empire. The officer, 
Commander Foote, who was the subject of this hostile 
assault, has been especially cautious and prudent in main- 
taining the neutrality, and prompt in checking any meas- 
ure which might infringe it. At the very time he was 
fired upon, he was on his way to Canton to withdraw the 
American force which had been landed to 23rotect the lives 
and property of American citizens during the unsettled 
state of affiiirs in Canton at the commencement of the dif- 
ficulty before alluded to. It was my wish to trust the 
security of neutrals and their interests to the obliga- 
tions and the sense of justice of your Excellency's govern- 
ment. 

Having taken the means now communicated to you to 
redress the outrage upon, and the insults to, the flag of 
the United States, I now ask of your Excellency an ex- 
planation of the attack made upon that flag, and a proper 
guaranty for its future security. 

, Unless a satisfactory reply of your Excellency to this 
communication shall be returned within twenty-four hours 



440 IN CHINA. 

from the delivery of this note, I shall take such further 
steps as I inay deem the gravity of the occasion to re- 
quire. 

Very respectfully, etc., etc., etc., 
{Sig7ied) Jas. Aemsteong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval Forces 
in the East India and China Seas. 

His Excellency, 
The Imperial Commissioner Yeh, etc.^ etc.^ etc., Canton. 
True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 

A feeling of annoyance at the substitution of negotia- 
tion for continued hostility was naturally felt by the offi- 
cers and crews of the two ships left lying off the forts, 
and they were impatient to have the cessation of hostili- 
ties terminated. 

The night of the day on which the Commodore had 
commenced the correspondence, the little steamer Kum 
Fa, which had been kept as busy, as bustling, and as buz- 
zing as a bee, during all these operations, came down 
from the forts with a delegation of officers from those ships, 
and a leading merchant of Canton, to urge the Commo- 
dore to go on with the assault. He, however, adhered to 
his determination to make inquiry into the state of affairs. 
The officers returned to their ships, and the gentleman, 
unwilling to give up his views, remained with us over 
night. 

At an early hour on the following morning, I was 
called from my bed by a message from the Commodore. 
Upon entering the cabin, I found the United States Com- 
missioner, the commander-in-chief, and the commercial 
representative of American opinion, in earnest consulta- 
tion. 

The Commodore did me the honor to say, that in the 
existing emergency he wished to act with the greatest 



PEN", PENCIL AND POWDEE. 441 

prudence, and they were now holding a council upon the 
course to be pursued, which he wished me to join. 

The result was a conclusion to send the above letter, 
and know definitely and justly where we stood. It should 
be particularly noticed that the whole ground of the let- 
ter is upon the assumption that the forts were silenced, 
or had ceased from the disposition to be aggressive. 

The gentleman protested against the conclusion of the 
council, and it is only just to say, he assigned as a reason 
that negotiation would lead to war with China, rather 
than prevent it. Yet this same gentleman had said, upon 
the authority of Howqua, a prominent Canton merchant 
in the confidence of the Chinese authorities, that the firing 
upon our boats was the result of accident and not inten- 
tion. Such a rumor was, in itself, a sufficient reason to 
induce a just man to refrain from the further destruction 
of life. We had, probably, by the bombardment of No- 
vember 16, destroyed many hundred Chinamen, and yet, 
a member of the same firm as the gentleman now alluded 
to remarked to Commodore Armstrong, " he hoped soon 
to hear the booming of his guns around the walls of 
Canton !" 

Almost every communication which came down from 
the forts manifested the existing impatience at their inac- 
tivity under the circumstances expressed by one of them, 
" The game is ours if we are permitted to start it." 

On the afternoon of the 18th, Lieutenant Bowen, with 
forty men, rejoined the San Jacinto, leaving the force of 
the forts about five hundred strong. A new condition of 
things was presented by the report of Lieutenant Bowen. 

He said the enemy was no longer quiet and inactive, 
but was renewing and strengthening his works, erecting a 
temporary battery near the ships, on which was mounted 
a gun of large calibre, trained directly upon the Levant's 
quarter. 



442 • IN CHINA. 

This was a condition of things the reverse of that upon 
which the cessation of hostilities had rested. It was re- 
newed aggression, and therefore Commodore Armstrong 
at once said to Commander Foote, "that, pending ne- 
gotiations he was unwilling to take any aggressive steps 
without sufficient cause," but these hostile movements on 
the part of the Chinese, Commander Foote was directed 
to prevent by such measures as his judgment might di- 
rect, even if they led to the occupation of the forts. 

Before he was aware that such instructions had been 
sent him. Captain Foote wrote for authority to take these 
very steps, and saying that his force was sufficient for any 
orders the Commodore might give. These instructions 
were sent him on the 19th November. 

The want of a proper steamer was felt more and more, 
and repeated applications came from the forts for one. 
The Commodore endeavored to engage the American 
armed steamer Antelope, belonging to the house of Rus- 
sell & Co., but she was dismantled at Hong Kong un- 
dergoing repairs; the Lily, belonging to an American 
house, was under the Portuguese flag, and the Governor 
of Macao refused to let her be so employed. Our only 
resource was continuing the litte Kum Fa, which was 
therefore chartered and placed under the command of 
Mx\ Sheppard, the Sailing Master of the Portsmouth. 

At this juncture Dr. Parker addressed a circular to the 
American residents at Canton, advising their removal, as 
the extent of hostilities could not be foreseen, and no 
force could now be spared from the United States squadron 
for their protection. The clouds of war were settling 
about us. 

Early on the morning of the 20th, our ships were at 
work ; we could distinctly hear the report of the guns 
and see the smoke rising over the tree tops. At eleven 
A.M. the look-out at the mast-head reported that the 



PEN, PENCIL AND POWDER. 443 

boats were landing to attack the forts, while one of the 
ships was shelUng ; in half an hour more all firing had 
ceased. About two in the afternoon the Kum Fa was 
seen approaching from the scene of conflict, and, we 
feared, to bring some killed or wounded ship or messmate. 
Fortunately our apprehensions were unfounded — she came 
for a supply of shot and shell. The largest and nearest 
fort, that which sustained the bombardment of the Ports- 
mouth on the 16th, had been for three hours in our 
possession, and was then undergoing the work of demo- 
lition. The crew of the Kum Fa were quite worn out 
with their continued labors, and being Chinese, objected 
to doing such duty as towing our ships under the fire of 
the forts, not upon any grounds of patriotism, but, very 
sensibly, because they did not ship for such hazards. 
Volunteers were therefore called upon from our own 
ship's company, and the crew, mistaking the extent to 
which they were wanting, made a general rush to the 
mast, each one urging particular reasons why he should 
have preference. Those who had been at the forts and 
brought down before the recommencement of hostilities, 
thought that a reason why they should be sent back 
again. As, however, only six firemen were actually 
wanting, these were selected. The engineers also all 
volunteered, but settled their claims by drawing lots, 
which fell upon Mr. Biles and Mr. Victor. 

At seven in the evening the steamer again came down 
with Lieutenant Simpson, of the Portsmouth, to report 
the day's proceedings to the Commodore. 

The fort taken had forty-seven guns mounted. Its 
walls were twelve feet thick below, supporting a project- 
ing platform from which rose a granite wall four feet 
thick. The killed had all been removed from within the 
fort, but outside were about fifty dead soldiers and a 
mandarin. After taking possession of the work a hostile 



444 . IN CHINA. 

d-emonstration was made by from four to five thousand 
men from a neighboring village. A small party was dis- 
patched to disperse them, and succeeded, one of our men 
being wounded in the leg. 

Two of our boys were accidentally killed by the dis- 
charge of a Minnie rifle in landing. One man was 
wounded by the bursting of a gun in the fort, and 
another was shot in the thigh. So far our loss has been 
three killed and four wounded. Most probably, in the 
shelling of Sunday and that of to-day, there have been 
four or five hundred Chinese killed in all the forts, so that 
Mullen's spirit is likely to have a large attendance in the 
" world of the hereafter." 

At the same time that Lieutenant Simpson came to 
report the occupation of the fort, the following reply 
was received from Yeh : — 



COPT.— TRANSLATION 

Yeh, Imperial Commissioner^ Governor General of the 
Two Kwang^ etc.^ etc.^ hereby replies 07i business. 
On the T 9th inst. I received your Excellency's commu- 
nication, and have made myself acquainted with its con- 
tents. The American Consul, Perry, previously informed 
me that in consequence of the difiiculties between the 
Chinese and Enghsh, he desired that protection might be 
given [to Americans,] to which I replied on the 24th ult. 
After the English cannonaded the city of Canton, the 
people were all in a state of unmanageable excitement, 
and I was afraid that I might have no leisure to look 
after their protection, of which I informed him on the 
27th ult. Subsequent to that day, the gentry and people 
came to me, representing that American men-of-war were 
stealthily coming to the place, and that it was not proper, 
having regard to the constant good will and intercourse 



PEN, PENCIL AND POWDEE. 445 

between China and the United States, for them thus to 
be helping the English attack the city, and this I stated 
to Mr. Perry, that he might make inquiry and inform 
me. 

Furthermore, seeing that the people of Canton are now 
engaged in a struggle with the Enghsh, in which one of 
the parties must succumb, and being afraid lest I might not 
be able to extend protection to the Americans, I deemed 
the best course would be for their merchants and people 
to withdraw, for then all risk of becoming involved would 
be avoided, and learning also that men-of war were off 
Canton to protect, it might be difficult to distinguish to 
what country they belonged in the event of an engage- 
ment with troops. If, however, the merchants and citi- 
zens would move away, the men-of-war being uncalled 
for would follow them, all risk of a chance wound or 
becoming involved would be taken away, and all appre- 
hension and doubt [of their intentions] on the minds of 
the natives would also be removed. These important 
considerations I communicated to Mr. Perry on the 4th 
and 10th insts. for his information. Knowing the amicable 
relations which have long existed with the United States, 
I spared no trouble in repeating these things often to 
him, supposing that he would make them known in detail 
to your Excellency. 

Why, then, did American vessels again pass these forts, 
and that, too, at a time when our troops were on the 
alert and very watchful? An American man-ofwar can 
be distinguished from an EngUsh one, or from her troops, 
only by her flag ; but from a long distance the two can 
not instantly be discriminated. It should be remembered, 
too, that the minds of the people are now much excited 
and confused, and it is not surprising if it be difficult to 
prevent mistakes and [false unauthorized] acts among 
them. I have already said so and repeated my remarks, 



446 . IN CHINA. 

but they were all taken as if no one heard or paid atten- 
tion to them. Your declarations in this letter now re- 
ceived, therefore, respecting so inexcusably firing upon 
and insulting the flag, is what I request may be carefully 
noted, for I, the Governor General, really fearful that just 
such an occurrence might take place, thought of it before- 
hand, and with the best intentions on my part so informed 
Mr. Perry. Why, I ask, did he not let your Excellency 
know it ? 

Hereafter, if American vessels, large or small, do not 
pass these forts, then all will be harmonious and properly 
arranged. For this end I send this reply, wishing your 
Excellency the greatest happiness and good will. 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 

CoioioDORE Armstrong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval 
Forces in East India and China Seas. 
Canton, November 20, 1856. 

True translation. (Signed) S. Wells Williams, 

Secretary and Interpreter to U. S. Legation to China. 

Although it did not alter the necessities under which 
the naval commander-in-chief had acted, this letter of 
Yeh showed that he had reasonable grounds for misap- 
prehending our position. Unfortunately, now that he had 
received an official assurance of our neutral position, he 
did not disavow the act of his forts, make any apology 
for it, or promise our flag that respect in the future to 
which it was entitled. It should be noted, too, that al- 
though the French had, equally with ourselves, garrisoned 
Canton, the French flag was freely passing with impunity 
those very forts with which we were at war. It was 
very apparent the hostile action of the forts had been 
authorised by Yeh. His dispatch was replied to as fol- 
owls: 



PEI^j PElfCIL AND POWDEE. 447 

COPT. 

United States Flag-Ship San Jacinto, 
Whampoa, November 20, 1856. 
Sir, 

On tlie lYth instant I had the honor to address 
your Excellency a communication informing your Excel- 
lency that I had attacked and silenced the " Barrier forts" 
for an unprovoked outrage upon one of the boats of this 
squadron. I*^ot wishing to carry measures of redress into 
those of aggression, I suspended the fire upon the of- 
fending forts until I could receive an explanation from 
your Excellency. Availing himself of this forbearance, 
the officer in charge of the forts was observed renewing 
and strengthening his means of assault. I, therefore, 
was conipelled to order this hostile movement to be 
stopped, and the result (the occupation of one of your 
forts by a part of my force, and destruction) has, I pre- 
sume, been communicated to your Excellency by the offi- 
cer in command. 

Your reply to my communication has this moment, 
seven o'clock, p. m., reached me, and considering the de- 
sire expressed by your Excellency to preserve friendly re- 
lations with the United States, and the means I was 
taking to preserve those relations and strict neutrality at 
the time of the assault upon my boat, it is very much to 
be regretted that the reply of your Excellency, just re- 
ceived, is not more satisfactory. You do not give me 
any guarantee that the flag of the United States shall 
have that safety upon the waters under your Excellency's 
jurisdiction to which the amicable relations of the coun- 
tries would entitle it. Upon the contrary, you intimate 
that if it attempts to pass those forts it must expect in- 
sult and hostility. Whatever may be your Excellency's 
purpose in this declaration, and I trust you have not con- 
sidered its extent, it amounts to a declaration of war upon 



448 IN CHINA. 

the flag of the United States, which has the same right 
as that of any other nation holding peaceable relations 
with the Chinese empire to free and peaceable passage 
on its waters. And it now becomes my duty to take such 
steps as I may deem proper to secure it that right. But 
I assure your Excellency there has not been the least in- 
tention, nor is there the least wish on my part to engage 
in unprovoked hostihties against the Chinese empire. 

I therefore shall be most happy to learn from your Ex- 
cellency that you have removed the necessity of continued 
hostile action, by providing for the flag and for the citi- 
zens of the United States that security under your Excel- 
lency's government to which they are entitled, and which 
will result in the happy restoration of peaceful relations. 
Very respectfully, etc., etc., etc., 

{Signed) James Armstkong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States 
Naval Forces in the East India and China Seas. 

His Excellency Yeh, 

Imperial Commissioner, etc., etc., etc., 
Canton. 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 

On the same day, N'ovember 20th, H. M. S. Coroman- 
del came down to Whampoa from Canton, bringing Dr. 
Parker a letter from Sir John Bowring, earnestly asking 
an interview for himself and Admiral Seymour with the 
commissioner and Commodore Armstrong ; and proposing 
that if these gentlemen could not come up to Canton, Sir 
John and the Admiral would on the morrow visit the San 
Jacinto. Sir John went on to say they had been actively 
sheUing the residence of Yeh and other parts of Canton, 
and yet the Chinese commissioner continued unyielding ; 
and concluded by the wish that the political atmosphere 
was as beautiful as the physical one of to-day. 



PEN, PENCIL AND POWDEK. 449 

The commissioner and Commodore concluded to go up 
to Canton in the morning in the steamer Lily, which had 
been placed at their disposition for this purpose by her 
owner. Captain Endicott, and to meet the British func- 
tionaries there. I was directed by the Commodore to ac- 
company him. We were off at an early hour, by seven 
o'clock in the morning. The weather continued its soft 
brightness, and we made the run by the picturesque pas- 
sage of Blenheim Reach ; back of the forts. The Chinese 
peasants and fishermen were quietly harvesting their rice 
fields or spreading their nets in the river. These peaceful 
occupations contrasted with the din of war which two 
powerful nations were making on their country. For at 
the same moment over these fields and in another reach 
of the river, could be heard the roar of our guns, and 
could be seen the white smoke of the bursting shells in 
a space of landscape framed in like a picture between two 
taU. pagodas. 

" Not war if possible, 
Lest from the abuse of war 
The desecrated shrine, the trampled year, 
The moldering homestead and the household flower 
Torn from the lintel." 

We reached Canton about ten o'clock, but not the 
Canton of my last summer's visit. The crowd of Chinese 
population living along the river had gone. The coun- 
try and the canal boats, the busy sampan, the gilded 
flower-boats, had all gone, and the river, once busy with 
life and occupation, now flowed between desolate borders. 
Forts in ruin, houses torn and being torn down, junks 
extemporized into guard-boats watched over by red 
coated sentries, grim men-of-war lying in the channel, 
with a net-work of booms ahead to keep off" fire rafts, 
were now the river scenes. 



450 IN CHINA. 

The once clean and quiet garden-walks were now lit- 
tered with rubbish. Bullock pens, shanties and tents 
now occupied the grass plots, and soldiers were drilling 
around the square. The club-house and library were 
turned into quarters for the soldiers and sailors. 

The house of the United States Consul, to which he ac- 
companied us, had been shut up for some days. It had 
last been occupied by a part of our forces. The hall was 
lumbered with their various stores, and the rooms above 
were in the forlorn desolation to which they had been 
abandoned by the sudden departure of our garrison. A 
few gold-fish moving languidly in the vase added to the 
dreariness of the scene. Before locking up the house 
again we gave them another lease of life in a fresh supply 
of water. We walked through the long aisles which led 
through the factories to the various residences. At my 
last visit it was lively with compradors, shroffs, and Chi- 
nese clerks, and ringing with the clatter of the piles and 
masses of dollars being weighed. Now, every door was 
closed, and I and my companion were the only human 
beings present. At the end we came out upon a mass 
of bricks and rubbish into which some houses back of the 
hongs had been tumbled. The Chinese streets in which 
we had been accustomed to buy elegant wares were of 
course deserted, the stores were empty, and the doors 
standing open. At the end of one of these streets two 
ragged Chinese children, a small girl and smaller boy, 
seeing us approach, fell on their knees and put up their 
hands for charity. But the sentry on post at the opposite 
end warned them off, and they fled to their hiding-place 
and starvation. 

Upon my return from this view of war's desolation, we 
proceeded to meet the British functionaries at their resi- 
dence in the British consulate. At the oj^ening of the in- 
terview, Sir John remarked that every thing there said, 



PEN, PEN^CIL AND P O W D E E . 451 

must be strictly confidential. As the result has since been 
given the English public, by official communication, my ob- 
ligation of secrecy is, of course, at an end. 

Sir John said that Yeh had shown an obstinacy and deter- 
mination not anticipated, and that it could only be accounted 
for by supposing that he had entered upon a course which, 
unless crowned by success, would lead to his decapitation. 
The difficulty now turned upon the right of foreign offi- 
cials to meet the Chinese authorities in the city of Can- 
ton. For the support of the narrow exclusiveness which 
prohibited such interviews he was bringing upon himself 
and people all this trouble. In the name of the three treaty 
powers they had demanded the right, and were deter- 
mined to maintain it; and the object of the present inter- 
view was to ask the cooperation of the United States. 
He said, further, we had a common cause, and his instruc- 
tions were to confer with the representatives of the United 
States and France. To this. Doctor Parker replied, that 
we admitted the common interest, but that it was the pur- 
pose of our government to negotiate this right in the 
renewal of our treaty, but that we had no warrant for 
demanding it by force, and that we could not complicate 
our present trouble with the city question. Commodore 
Armstrong said that his authority extended only to re- 
dressing the injuries offered our flag and countrymen, 
and what steps this might lead him to take he could not 
foresee. Admiral Seymour said he had no specific instruc- 
tions upon the subject ; but in redressing the injuries done 
his flag, the necessity for negotiation and explanation fol- 
lowed, and upon that arose the question of the place where 
and the persons with whom such negotiation should be 
held. The focus of opposition to general usage upon this 
subject, was Canton, and the exclusiveness broken here, 
it would be easy to remove it from every other portion 
of the empire. 



452 . IN CHINA. 

Doctor Parker remarked, that they were somewhat dif- 
ferently circumstanced to us. The specific right they con- 
tended for had once been conceded them by treaty. We 
could not claim this. 

The gentlemen then hoped that our flag would not be 
withdrawn from Canton, as it would in so much weaken 
the moral force of their demand; and, moreover, it would 
be repi^sented at Pekin that we, one of the present con- 
tending parties, had been expelled from Canton. There 
was no hesitation in giving the assurance that our flag 
should be maintained in Canton. Admiral Seymour said 
that if we could not sj^are a force from our present busi- 
ness to maintain our flag in Canton, he would look out for 
that himself. In the preliminary conversation of the inter- 
view. Sir John Bowring had made an allusion to a propo- 
sition of his made previously to Dr. Parker in writin j, to 
detach a small steamer from the British squadron, at once, 
and go to the Gulf of Pe-che-Le, and both j^owers com- 
municate with the court of Pekin. Dr. Parker had, for 
various reasons, discountenanced it. Sir John, now resum- 
ing the subject, said he also did not think it expedient ; 
that it was not well to detach any force from the squad- 
ron, that there was little likcliliood of success, and that 
instead of one Yeh they would have hundreds to contend 
with. 

Individually, I think that this has been the radical er- 
ror of all foreign negotiations xAth the Chinese. That in- 
stead of treating with subordinates two thousand miles 
away from the central government, we should have treated 
with that, or not at all. If the distant locality has a spec- 
ial interest to maintain, the remote court looks upon it as 
a distant and trifling matter in which it has no direct re- 
sponsibility — a question among the servants in the kitchen, 
beneath the notice of the drawing-room. It has no mo- 
tive to come out of the ignorance and misrepresentation 



PEN, PENCIL AND POWDEE. 453 

in whicli it rests, and can say to its subordinates, " Do as 
you please, it matters nothing to us." Our minister to China 
is a minister to the viceroy of Canton. 

In the course of some general conversation after the 
interview had closed, Admkal Seymour said he would be 
glad to let us have the services of an experienced engi- 
neer officer to aid in mining the forts in case we should 
determine to blow them up ; and also the use of one of 
his steamers. I am not sure that he made these offers 
then to Commodore Armstrong, but he stated his readi- 
ness in general conversation. However desirable, of 
course their acceptance was out of the question. 

During our visit to Canton we learned that five thou- 
sand " braves" were said to be assembled near the facto- 
ries, immediately inside the walls. 

At noon we started on our return to the ship. The 
firing at the forts had ceased for some time, but an occa- 
sional explosion showed that the work of demolition was 
going on. We found no more recent intelligence upon 
our reaching the ship, but sometime after, a hurried note 
was received, calling for more ammunition, and saying that 
four bodies would be sent to us for burial. 

At daylight, on the morning of the 2 2d, I received the 
following note from the Surgeon of the Levant : 

United States Ship Levant, 
Kovemher 21st, 1856. 

My Dear Doctoe, — 

We have had a very hot day's work. The Kum Fa took 
us into capital position, and in about an hour the fort on 
the left slacked firing, and just after eight the boats shoved 
off in tow of the httle steamer, and occupied the fort. 
Two men were killed and one was wounded by a single 
cannon ball, while in the boats. The Levant was struck 
and shaken by large shot, a good many times, but fortn- 



454 IN CHINA. 

nately no one was hurt. One gun was struck and dis- 
abled. The Round fort is occupied by us, and the only 
remaining one is so completely commanded that it must 
fall, though it is now keepmg up an ineffectual fire at long 
range, which we do not answer. 

I send by the comprador, who has to-day visited us, 
my papers, etc., which I believe are all right. 

In haste, J. H. Weight. 

Dr. Wood, Fleet Surgeon. 

At eleven o'clock the Kum Fa came down, brinmno: 
Captain Foote and five bodies. Three of them had been 
killed by a round shot striking the San Jacinto's launch, 
in charge of Lieutenant Lewis. It is somewhat singular, 
that every man killed by the enemy belonged to the San 
Jacinto, which ship was not engaged. Captain Foote re- 
ported all the forts in our possession, mounting one hundred 
and seventy-six guns — one of them a monster brass piece : 

Extreme length, 22 feet 5 inches. 

Greatest circumference, 8 " 8 " 

Least do 4 " 5f " 

Circumference of tininnion, 3 " 3|- " 

Diameter of bore, " 8^ *' 

Probable weight, say about fifteen tons. 

The gun was burst in the following ingenious manner :* 
Ten one and one-eighth inch holes were drilled in a line 
about half way round, some ten inches forward of the 
vent; after which the piece was loaded with twenty-five 
pounds of fine powder, on which was rammed a wet wad, 
then a large ball, and afterward clay and sand up to the 
muzzle. The gun was exploded by means of a slow match, 
and burst thoroughly, the fissures extending nearly the 
whole length. The time occupied for this labor was a day 

* By Assistant Engineer C. Victor. 



PEN, PENCIL AND POWDER. 455 

and three quarters ; and by its destruction gave general 
satisfaction. 

Among the weapons used by the Chinese most effect- 
ively against us in this contest was one which probably 
represents the " fiery darts" of the Bible, and, if so, es- 
tablishes that early knowledge of gunpowder. It is a 
heavy, metal rocket, with a sharp dart or spear-pointed 
head, and a feathered bamboo shaft six or eight feet long. 
One of these passed through the leg of a marine, carry- 
ing straw and dirt with it as though in its course it had 
passed over a paddy field, and struck the ground. It 
shattered one of the bones of his leg, and the man subse- 
quently died of the effects of the wound in the hospital 
under my charge. Indeed, my unpleasant relations with 
this contest were carried over more than a year's charge 
of men in hospital wounded in the fight. 

One of our great difiiculties was to get some one ac- 
quainted with the intricacies of the channel to pilot the 
Kum Fa while towing the boats to the assault of the 
forts — a most exposed and dangerous duty for all in this 
egg-shell of a little steamer. It was, however, under- 
taken by W. M. Robinet, Esq., a naturahzed citizen of 
the United States, and a merchant of Hong Kong. The 
ready abandonment of the comforts and luxuries of his 
hospitable mansion in Hong Kong for the exposure of 
this dangerous duty in the service of his adopted country, 
has, I believe, received no official recognition by the gov- 
ernment, although its attention was officially called to the 
fact. Mr. Robinet also landed with the assaulting parties 
where his better knowledge of the ground enabled him 
to facilitate their movements. His gallantry and skill upon 
these trying occasions, cause all who were witness of them 
to regret the misfortunes which have subsequently been as- 
sociated with his name. The services he then rendered 
can not be denied, even if he has since fallen into error. 



456 IN CHINA. 

XXXY. 

RUINED CASTLES. 

The final attack on the four Barrier forts commenced 
on Thm'sday morning, ISTovember 20th, the guns saluting 
the gray dawn, and by Saturday, the 22d, although the 
Chinese had fought fort after fort, they were in our pos- 
session. 

Those who have followed this narrative have seen there 
was no intermission, and no rest, day or night, until the 
capture was accomplished. The efficient coolness which 
characterized the most fiery hours of the combat, has al- 
ready been commented upon. 

Men and officers worked with the earnest enthusiasm 
of those doing their duty, to many a painful duty, with 
a wish to perform it efficiently, but with none of the wild 
excitement of deeds to be gloried in ; and there was no 
exultation of success claiming commendations for what had 
been accomplished, or expectancy of the reward of popu- 
lar approbation. In fact, I do remember, that when some 
young and hopeful hero suggested that the events might 
do the service good, by showing the country that the 
Navy had not lost its efficiency, he was met by the gen- 
eral sentiment, that when the events reached our distant 
homes, they would fall flat upon the public attention, and 
scarce attract a day's notice. They did. I do not think 
a single letter was written by any officer of the squadron 
to vaunt its achievements and attract popular admiration. 
None of the quacking arts by which reputations are made, 
not w^on, were resorted to ; but the duty done, the forts 
taken, the honor of the American flag and name vindi- 
cated, the dead buried on the hill-side at Whampoa, and 
the whole reported to the Department, the matter ended. 



RUINED CASTLES. 457 

Those wlio had not been killed might be thankful for 
their escape, but certainly had no temptations to desire a 
different result, or any compensation to hope for beyond 
the consciousness of dying " in the love of duty." When 
those trained in a life of military aspiration had, with a 
philosophical appreciation of the real worth of military 
deeds, reconciled themselves to this chilling indifference, 
it might have been hoped that a fair human nature, ad- 
mitting the general depravity of the article, would not 
have gone out of its way to depreciate the extent of the 
performance and the merit of those engaged in it. 

But as such envy, malice and uncharitableness were 
found among Americans, it becomes my right to assert 
the true claims of the duty done. It is consolatory that 
our English rivals were emphatic in their commendation 
of the deed itself, and the manner of its performance. As 
the Portsmouth descended the river, after all was over, the 
British fleet manned their rigging, and saluted her with 
hearty cheers ; and the officers engaged were congratula- 
ted by those of the English service for the honorable tes- 
timonials they would necessarily receive from the United 
States government^ and could not understand why noth- 
ing was expected. 

Those who, upon the spot, undertook to insinuate opin- 
ions of depreciation, did not underrate the unexpected 
strength of the fortresses, nor in any one instance dare 
they intimate a want of skill and courage among the 
assailants. The false impression is conveyed in a few 
words of truth. " Yes, they did take the forts, but were 
a long time about it ; they were three days in doing what 
the English did in a few hours." 

All true. All false. The English have a business in- 
terest in making the most of every successful achieve- 
ment, and will press its importance upon their authori- 
ties as an honorable ware which has a value of specific 

20 



458 . IN CHINA. 

compensation. Their true courage, which exaggerates no 
dangers, will often laugh at the business language in 
which their deeds are reported. The government, or its 
military policy, would rather err by the exaggerated ac- 
knowledgment of a small achievement, than by overlook- 
ing one which should be acknowledged. Promotion 
attends not seniority, but skill and success. " He was 
made for so and so," is the expression, setting forth the 
cause of an officer's promotion. 

Notwithstanding this official temptation to make the 
fullest claim for every deed, warranting such a claim, 
there was too much English honesty and English pride 
to make any merit of their capture of the Barrier forts. 
Because these forts were taken at the very commence- 
ment of the troubles, when the Chinese were expecting 
no attack, and were, consequently, defenseless ; the small 
garrison abandoning them without resistance. 

When attacked by the United States naval forces, 
these forts had been actively preparing themselves for 
war with us all, mounting heavy guns, and increasing 
their forces to the utmost extent inside and out. The 
contemptuous insinuation, while loaded heavily with the 
meanness of its purj^ose, breaks its back by carrying the 
refutation of that purpose. If the forts were a long time 
in being taken by the United States forces, as there is no 
charge that there was any shrinking from duty, and as 
there was no cessation of the attack from its recommence- 
ment on the 20th of November, until the final success, the 
longer the time, the greater the proof that it was an un- 
dertaking of real difficulty, and no child's play. 

Making no reference whatever to the reports of those 
engaged in the work, I will refute the whole imputation 
by the reports of the English themselves; and we can 
but respect them for that justice which some of onr own 
countrymen have denied. 



RUIKED CASTLES. 459 

Extracts from Admiral Seymour's report to the Ad- 
miralty, dated on board the Niger, at Canton, N^ovember 
29th, 1856. Blue Book: 

" Since our operations against the Barrier forts on the 
23d ult., they have been rearmed, and were at this period 
garrisoned by a strong force, with troops in the neighbor- 
hood. The corvette* commenced firing at four p. m., and 
continued until seven o'clock, the Chinese returning it 
with spirit. On the following morning the whole of the 
American force was withdrawn from the factory to man 
the ships. 

" At seven, a. m., on the 20th, the American ships re- 
opened a very heavy fire on the forts, as the Chinese had 
commenced the construction of batteries in their rear, 
which was continued during the whole of that day, and 
at intervals during the next two days. On the evening 
of the 22d, Commander Foote called on me to report the 
capture of the four forts, and the partial destruction of 
the works, the guns also having been burst and their 
carriages burned. During these protracted and arduous 
services, the American officers and men displayed their 
accustomed gallantry and energy. Their loss amounted 
to five killed and six wounded. That of the Chinese, I 
am given to understand, was very heavy, as they made 
a most determined defense." 

From the same, December 14, 1856 : 

" The American ships-of-vvar completed the destruction 
of the Barrier forts on the 6th, and dropped down to 
Whampoa. These forts were of enormous strength and 
solidity, being entirely built of large blocks of granite, 
with walls nine or ten feet thick. They were heavily 
armed, many of the guns being of seven or eight tons 
weight, with a bore of thirteen inches ; one brass eight- 
and-a-half inch gun was over twenty-one feet long." 
* Portsmouth, Captain Foote. 



460 • IN CHINA. 

With such testimony, all disparaging insinuations may- 
be left alongside the unworthy motive in which they orig- 
inated. 

We now had the forts, but their possession was very 
Hke that of the undisposable elephant. What was to be 
done with them ? 

To turn them over to the English would put us in the 
position ^f having captured them in the English interest. 
If we abandoned them as they were, so long as only the 
bare walls were left standing, the whole effect of the cap- 
ture upon the Chinese government would be lost ; not 
only so, but an im2:>ression directly the reverse of the 
truth be produced. The instant we left the spot, the 
Chinese masses would rush in and occupy the works, 
hoist their dragon banners, and report to the imperial 
court at Pekin that, by their courage and skill, they had 
expelled us, thereby increasing the arrogance of the im- 
perial court, its contempt for us, and adding to the difficul- 
ties of future negotiation. Indeed, in one of the forts a 
flag was found, bearing this inscription : 

"this fort attacked, but not taken." 

The following extract from a letter of Assistant Sur- 
geon Daniel, received by me on the day following the 
final capture, shows what would have been the result, had 
the forts been left standing : 

u .* * % None of the commanders are here. The 
Chinese appear to be occupying one or two of the forts 
again, and Mr. Lewis has gone up with some of the 
launches and marines. No order was left for him to do 
sd, but he was, most assuredly, right, for in twenty-four 
hours the rascals will get some of the guns to bear, and the 
consequence will be more loss of life. For, if we are to 
destroy the forts, they must be held until it is done. 



RUINED CASTLES, 461 

We have lost enough, and too many, of our people al- 
ready." 

The destruction of the forts seemed the only safe course, 
but it was a tremendous labor, and very distasteful to 
officers and men, now worn out with the constant occu- 
pation of the capture. But this course was, after some 
delay and discussion, determined on, and a corps of la- 
borers, with necessary implements, were hired from the 
throng of unemployed merchant seamen, now crowding 
the streets of Hong Kong. 

While this discussion was going on, the following tempt- 
ing proposition was received from Admiral Seymour : 

COPT. 

Her Majesty's Ship Niger, 

CANTOisr, November 24, 1856. 
My Dear Commodore : 

If you are disposed to hold possession of one of the 
Barrier forts — say that on Kuper Island — I will, on learn- 
ing your wishes, act against the French Folly fort. This 
combined movement will give iis the command of the 
Whampoa channel. We should then be in possession of 
the two river communications between the city of Canton 
and the sea, a circumstance well calculated to make a 
deep impression on the Canton authorities. 
I am, my dear sir. 

Faithfully yours, • 

{Signed) M. Seymour, 

Eeax Admiral and Commander-in-Chief. 

His Excellency Co:aiMODORE Armstrong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval 
Forces. 

To which proposition Commodore Armstrong felt it 
his duty to reply as follows : 



4G2 • iNcniNA. 

United States FLAa-Snip San Jacinto, 
"Whampoa, November 24, 1856. 

My Dear Admiral : 

I regret that I can not enter into the arrangement 
you propose, because the moment I receive a satisfactory 
communication from the imperial commissioner, my busi- 
ness with him is at an end, and I must necessarily return 
to the pacific relations the United States held before the 
insult to its flag. But, until the communication does 
come, I shall hold the forts and go on with their demoli- 
tion. 

I remain, my dear sir, 

Most truly yours, 
{Signed) Jas. Armstrong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States 
Naval Forces in the East India and China Seas. 

His Excellency, Rear Admiral 
Sir Michael Seymour, K. C. B., 

Commander-in-Chief of her Majesty's Naval 
Forces, China. 

The demolition of the forts became also very conve- 
nient upon another policy. The Imperial Commissioner, 
Yeh, had evidently determined upon an indefinitely pro- 
tracted controversy, unless it were carried on with the 
strong hand upon his throat. 

So far we had received from him no regret or disavow- 
al of the past aggression, and no security against its rep- 
etition. If he continued in this spirit, we must in all con- 
sistency follow up our demand in such a manner as would 
initiate new and more permanent war measures. But 
while we were day by day tumbling his costly castles in- 
to ruins, he had motives to come more speedly to juster 
views. 

Such are the difficulties of the Chinese language, that 



KUII^ED CASTLES. 463 

even learned foreigners do not enter upon the translation 
of an important document without the aid of native lin- 
guists and teachers. All these had been ordered by Yeh 
to leave the factories, and any aid they might give would 
be at the risk of decapitation. Commodore Armstrong's 
letter was, therefore, sent Yeh in English. He returned 
it. It was again sent by Dr. Wells Williams, the Secre- 
tary of Legation, accompanied by the 81st article of the 
treaty, which gives us the right of communicating in our 
own language. 

But this had no influence upon the imperial commis- 
sioner. He seemed rather to desire in this way to rid 
himself of any necessity for accounting for his proceed- 
ings, by cutting off all medium of communication. It 
was shorter than continued evasive and tortuous docu- 
ments. 

Such are the difficulties and dangers of the Chinese 
non-intercourse policy; showing the propriety and the 
necessity of the demand made by the British authorities, 
for personal negotiation. Finally a translation of the doc- 
ument was sent in, and five days after its date a reply was 
received. This only repeats his first letter, and says that 
no commerce exists now ; that the French and Portuguese 
consuls had retired from Canton, and says, " I also think 
that your Excellency will act in the same manner. To 
maintain amicable relations between our two countries in 
all respects, there is no better way than to move else- 
where. Henceforth, lest American ships, while passing 
here and there on the rivers, during this time of hostili- 
ties, should not be distinguished, and should by mistake 
be fired at and injured, I request that you will order 
merchants and ships for the time to cease going about." 
Commodore Armstrong reiterated his demand, that the 
treaty rights of the American flag and of American cit- 



46 i IN CHINA. 

izens should be respected, and received, in due time, a 
reply, the nature of which is shown by the following 
answer to it : 

Uotted States Flag-Ship San Jacinto, 
■Whampoa, Novemler 29th, 1856. 

Sie: 

Your Excellency's communication of the 28th inst. 
is now, 7 o'clock, p. m., for the first time before me, and 
as I have distinctly and repeatedly informed your Excel- 
lency that the rights and privileges of the flag and cit- 
izens of the United States would be defended by me 
against all aggressions, it would be useless to consume 
the time of your Excellency and of myself in repeating 
this determination. But there are a few points in your 
Excellency's letter Avhich show so much misapprehen- 
sion of the rights of friendly nations, and the duties of 
one to another, that I must call your Excellency's at- 
tention to the errors under which your Excellency is 
laboring. 

In the first place you demand that the citizens and the 
flag of the United States shall retire from your Excellen- 
cy's jurisdiction, because there are hostilities existing be- 
tween the English and your Excellency, and because the 
French and Portuguese have done so. 

The United States has, as your Excellency must know, 
by treaty, entered into friendly relations with the impe- 
rial government of China, which give its citizens the right 
to a residence, to trade and to protection in certain por- 
tions of the Chinese empire, one of which happens to be 
under your Excellency's government. The demand of 
your Excellency is in violation of that treaty, and will 
call forth the surprise and indignation of my government, 
and can not be acceded to by any of its ofiicers. 

With the course of the French and Portuguese, the 
authorities of t)ie United States have nothing to do. 



RUINED CASTLES. 465 

These autliorities, while most desirous of acting accord- 
ing to right and justice, must form their judgment irre- 
spective of that of other nations, and under the present 
circumstances they only claim that to which the faith of 
the imperial government of China is pledged, and which 
your Excellency can not refuse without taking upon your- 
self the responsibility of violating that faith. 

Your Excellency further says, " When the English 
opened their fire, on the 29th ult., upon the city, men of 
other countries scrambled over the walls with them, and 
when they attacked the French Folly, on the 6th inst., 
the citizens and villagers repeatedly saw all that was 
done, and reported to me that there were Americans 
mixed up among their forces. Moreover, I am told that 
the Enghsh consul, Parkes, has spread abroad the report, 
that the Americans have encouraged them to maintain 
their parts bravely in these hostilities. When these 
things came to my knowledge, knowing the long contin- 
ued good feelings that your country had shown to us for 
so many years, I put not credence in them, notwithstand- 
ing all the declarations of the people, but in consequence 
repeatedly informed Consul Perry that he might enjoin it 
on his countrymen and the American men-of-war, to move 
elsewhere, and thereby to take away all cause of fear and 
suspicion. This advice was certainly given with friendly 
feelings, and he ought to have acted in accordance there- 
with." For what "the men of other countries" have 
done, your Excellency must know the United States are 
not responsible. 

In all the correspondence I have had the honor to hold 
with your Excellency, this is the first communication in 
which your Excellency has complained of the interference 
of Americans in your difficulty with the English, and even 
now, you make that complaint upon the vague reports of 
" citizens and villagers," whom your Excellency, in former 
20* 



466 . IN CHINA. 

communications, stated to be in so excited a condition 
they could not distinguish the American flag from the 
English. Can your Excellency consider such uncertain 
reports as these a sufficient cause to make war upon a 
friendly power ? to fire, without warning, from your 
forts upon a small boat, which, relying upon the faith and 
honor of your government, was, on a friendly and peace- 
ful errand, passing under their guns ? It must need very 
little reflection to convince your Excellency that any re- 
ports spread by the officer of another government, not 
under my control, are not a sufficient cause for such hos- 
tile proceedings, even though the reports were strictly 
true. Americans have a right to hold and to express 
whatever opinions they please in relation to their own 
or any other government, and so long as they refrain from 
any improper action upon those opinions, they are not 
responsible to any power. It may be supposed, and prob- 
ably is the case, that some Americans sympathize with 
the Cantonese, but this would not be claimed by the 
English as sufficient reason for making war upon the 
country of such persons. 

If any citizens of the United States were so indiscreet 
as to engage in the hostilities between your Excellency 
and the English, it would certainly be a just subject of 
complaint on the part of your Excellency to the United 
States authorities to which these citizens are responsible, 
and your Excellency might have every confidence, as you 
have the evidence, that such a course on the part of 
American citizens would have been reproved and put an 
end to. 

The following extract from the circular issued by the 
senior naval commanding officer in my absence, is proof 
that you can have no complaint against the government 
whose flag you have assaulted : 

" The United States naval forces are here for the special 



EUINED CASTLES. 467 

protection of American interests ; and the display of the 
American flag in any other connection is hereby for- 
bidden. 

{Signed) "Andeew H. Foote, 

" Commander United States Navy, 
" Senior Ofi&cer present, commanding United States Naval Forces, Canton. 

"Canton, China, OdoUr 2dth, 1856. 

With so clear and proper means of redress before 
you, neither his Excellency, the Commissioner of the 
United States to China, nor myself, received any inti- 
mation from your Excellency of any cause of complaints, 
until after you had fired upon the boat of my squadron, 
and thus made war upon a power at peace with your gov- 
ernment. 

From the nature of your Excellency's communication, 
I am reluctantly led to the conclusion that the assault up- 
on the flag of the United States was by your Excellency's 
authority. I have shown that the complaints under which 
your Excellency endeavors to excuse that injury are too 
vague and undefined to justify any hostility ; that, even 
if true to the fullest extent, your Excellency's course was 
a reference to the representative of the United States in 
China. It is plain that your demand to retire the United 
States flag from the country under your jurisdiction, is a 
violation of the treaty obligations of the imperial govern- 
ment of China, which can not be acceded to. 

If your Excellency, upon considering the subject, shall 
see the impropriety of this demand, and shall give orders 
that in future the flag of the United States shall be treated 
with respect and friendship, the present difiiculty will be 
at an end, and from the friendly feelings you express, and 
w^hich I both feel and will act upon when all provocation 
is removed, there ought to be no obstacles to this happy 
result. 

Unless your Excellency sees the justice ot the views I 



468 IN CHINA. 

have endeavored to set forth, and acts accordingly, with 
your Excellency must rest the responsibility for all the evils 
attendmg the difficulties you are creating between the gov- 
ernments of the United States and of the Chinese empire. 
Returning your Excellency's expressions of good will, 
I am, very res23ectfully, etc., etc., etc., 
(Sigtied) Jas. Armstrong, 

Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval Forces 
in the East India and China Seas. 

His Excellency Yeh, 

Imperial Commissioner, etc., etc., etc.. Canton, 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

■*■ Commodore's Secretary. 

This communication was answered by another, in which 
the imperial commissioner concludes as follows : 

" You remark in the present letter, ' your Excellency 
must certainly know on reflection, that the United States 
has no concern with the acts of other nations ;' and fur- 
ther you say, ' if you see that it is, contrary to the rights 
of friendly nations for the Americans to withdraw, if you 
will issue orders to all your officers henceforth to treat 
them with respect and friendliness, the present difficulties 
will be at an end.' From this I see fully that your Excel- 
lency has a clear knowledge of aff'airs. There is no mat- 
ter of strife between our two nations. Henceforth let the 
fashion of flag which American ships employ be clearly 
defined (or made known), and inform me what it is before- 
hand. This will be a verification (or proof) of the friendly 
relations between our countries. For this reply, availing 
of the opportunity to hope that peace may be yours." 

Simultaneously with the receipt of this satisfactory let- 
ter, the last granite wall of the forts was blown into ruins, 
and peace restored. 

The Levant was ordered to lie ofl" Canton for the refuge 
of such of our citizens as chose to remain at the factories. 



THE REIGN OF TEEROR. 469 

She had only been there two days when, from Whampoa, 
we saw the evidence of a large conflagration in the direc- 
tion of the city. The Chinese had burnt all the factories, 
and expelled the barbarian from the little foothold he had 
so long held. Our interests there were at an end for the 
present, and the Levant was recalled. 



XXXVI. 

THK REIQN OF TERROR. 

" Every person lawfully acting as a sentry or patrol at any time be- 
tween the hour of eight in the evenuig and sunrise, is hereby authorized, 
■whilst so acting, to fire upon, with intent or effect to kill, any Chinaman 
whom he shall meet with or discover abroad, and whom he shall have 
reasonable ground to suspect of being so abroad for an improper pur- 
pose, and who being challenged by him shall neglect or refuse to make 
proper answer to his challenge. 

" If any Chinaman, not being the holder of a night pass, shall carry 
abroad with him, whether night or day, any deadly weapon whatsoever, 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

" No act done or attempted in pursuance of this ordinance shall be 
questioned in any court." 

Our own immediate war might be supposed to be over, 
but we could not pass to the rejoicings of peace. Heads 
were still worth money, and the lawless Chinese population 
about us knew nothing of treaties and paper obligations. 

Besides, the English war was still in progress, and a 
fleet of rebels, or pirates calling themselves rebels, lay 
anchored in the river near Whampoa, ready to j)ounce 
upon any prey which passed them ; and in the meantime 
they amused themselves by robbing and burning the 
neighboring villages, the smoke rising to our sight over 
the hill tops. 

We lay still and stagnant amid the river " chops," or 
floating shops and residences of Whampoa, but neverthe- 



470 IN CHINA. 

less, surrounded by war's alarms. Commerce was dead, 
except that a few small craft, buzzards on the battle-field, 
were carrying on some surreptitious traffic with dishonest 
mandarins — Yankee and Chinaman alike out of the pale 
of God and man. 

There was one valuable American interest on shore — a 
fine stone dry-dock, belonging to the house of Hunt & 
Co., which was worth our protection, but it seemed, in 
the present state of aifairs, to be a necessary convenience 
to the EngUsh, and the British frigate Sybille, lay off the 
dock. 

The Chinese were very bold in their attempts at injury. 
Near us lay the chop of an Englishman by the name of 
Cooper. On the evening of December 20th, a boat of 
Chinese ran alongside of it, under the pretense of deliver- 
ing a letter, seized Mr. Cooper's father from the midst 
of his family, and hurried him off in their boat. Nothing 
satisfactory was ever again heard of him. He was either 
decapitated and his head sold, or died a prisoner in Can- 
ton. The British arrested some of the principal men of 
the village, and threatened to burn the place unless the 
old man were returned, but no knowledge of the transac- 
tion could be fixed upon them. 

How much of the trouble of the world arises from men 
and people misunderstanding each other ! The Chinese 
view of their civilized and Christian enemies may be 
learned from the following 

Fuhlic Declaration of the Gentry and People of the City 
and Samlets of Canton, 

Until the parricide* be cut off, there will be no peace 
in (men's) dwellings. When blood-thirstiness and vicious 

* The word is compounded of the name of a bird that devours its 
mother, and a beast that eats its father ; and is used here to signify, 
far excellence, an atrocious monstrosity. 



THE KEIGN OF TEEEOE. 4'7l 

perversity rebel with violence, (against the rule of right) 
a virtuous indignation should be manifested by all in 
common. 

The English barbarians having commenced a quarrel 
without a cause, imputing to us their own offense against 
what is proper (or decorous), have destroyed our forts, 
have assaulted our city, have burned the lowly dwellings 
of the people, have sacked their villages ; merchant* ves- 
sels and passage boats have been plundered ; the wayfarer 
and the traveling merchant have been assassinated.f At 
the village of Lieh-teh (by the Barrier forts), three wo- 
men were ravished,^ and for shame have destroyed them- 
selves. Such is their brigand soul, such their wolfish na- 
ture ; wo be to the city of Canton, if they be suffered to 
dwell there long ! 

It behoves us to raise a force of sons and brothers,§ to 
exterminate them, ere we eat our morning meal ; to gather 
together the population of the villages and the city, and 
sweep away this fiendish pestilence. It is now deter- 
mined that, on a day to be appointed, there shall be a 
meeting at Fat-ling Shi (north-east of the city), for pur- 
poses of general deHberation. Every inhabitant of the 
villages near the city, from sixteen years of age to sixty, 
shall take his place in the ranks ; a rate shall be levied on 
lands for their subsistence ; the more remote districts 
shall aid to swell the cry. These barbarians must be ex- 



* Lit Silk vessels. 

\ Have suddenly suffered wounds and death. 

\ There was an idle rumor that some women were violated near the 
Barrier forts, when they were taken by the Americans. The circum- 
stances of that capture considered, there is very small ground indeed 
for crediting a report which has been for years past the inseparable 
companion of every narrative of barbarian misdoings. 

§ The proverb says, " that of such should be formed the force that 
hunts the tiger, or that goes to battle." 



472 IN CHINA. 

terminated, and the port* closed to them ; nor must they 
ever again be allowed to trade at Canton, that men's 
hearts may be satisfied, and the calamities of after time 
be prevented. 

Even were the high authorities resolved to be gentle 
and considerate, and in this spirit mercifully tolerant of 
these dogs and mice, they could not go, against the reso- 
lution of the rural population, hundreds of thousands in 
number ; they could not thrust aside the common feelings 
of the people. Yet there has been of late a rumor to this 
effect ; while these barbarians have been destroying the 
Lien-hing and other streets, acts which it was as much to 
be assumed would have roused the virtuous indignation 
of the inhabitants of the western suburb, as it was not to 
be assumed that they would have tacitly assented to them, 
allowing the silk-worm thus to eat (its way), a report has 
been, notwithstanding, current in the street and on the 
highway, which'goes the length of asserting that the sub- 
stantial and wealthy merchants of the western suburb, 
who have so many years traded with the rebellious bar- 
barians, some because they have business establishments 
abroad, some because they have shares in foreign vessels, 
are tenderly regarding their personal interests, while they 
ignore the sentiment of patriotism ; that they have some 
time since made a secret compact (with the barbarian) 
that neither party shall molest the other ; and that this 
is the reason why they are composedly looking on, as if 
nothing extraordinary were taking place. 

A tale like this, told in pubhc places,! were doubtless 
not to be greatly trusted ; but with such noise and fre- 
quency is it passing from man to man, that it has, indeed, 
astounded those who hear it ; and it is but too probable 
that the western suburb will, in the end, find to its sor- 

* i^l The wharf must be destroyed. 
f Lit In the markets and by the wells. 



THE EEIGN OF TEEEOK. 473 

row that it is become the point oq which popular indig- 
nation has concentrated itself. 

If duly mindful of their duty to their homes, of the 
abundant bounty in which they have been steeped by 
dynasty after dynasty, they will pillow them on their 
arms, determined and united with us in our patriotic 
movement ; let them, sharing with us our animosity, and 
treating as foes those whom we hate, grasp, one and all, 
the ear of the ox,'^ and join our confederacy. - — CJiina 
3fail, December 18th, 1856. 

Perhaps we make as disparaging errors in our judgment 
of the Chinese. 

On the evening of December 23d, I retired early, with 
the hope and prospect of a quiet night's rest. But truly 
no man knows what an hour may bring forth, especially 
at a time when you do not know whether you are at war 
or not, and if at war, whether it may be -with a regular 
government, regular rebels, or irregular pirates. 

There had been a rumor for some days past that one 
heavy fleet of armed junks was to descend the river, and 
another to ascend, and between them both, the British 
frigate and ourselves were to be overwhelmed. 

Soon after lying down, the repeated concussion of heavy 
guns shook the air about us. But almost every night 
there has been some heavy firing in the direction of Can- 
ton, and a small business is going on day and night in our 
vicinity, and, though these heavy guns seemed much 
nearer than Canton, concluding that it was no business of 
mine, I went to sleep, but in a few hours was waked by a 
terrible confusion on deck, with the noise of a steamer 
near by. The British steamer Queen, on her way from 

* In the time of the Fighting States — ^the Confucian era — when a 
league was to be formed, an os was sacrificed to Heaven, and his ear 
being cut off by the senior of the confederacy, the blood from it was 
drunk in wine by the members of the alhanoe. 



474 . IN CHINA. 

Canton to Hong Kong, about seven miles below ns, bad 
encountered a fleet, said to be of one hundred armed junks, 
coming up the river, who had fired upon her, and driven 
her back. 

This midnight intelligence came upon our ship with 
startling effect, and the noise on deck was that of tearing 
the cabin to pieces, and running a gun out of the stern 
port. Presently all hands were called — steam was got up, 
with a general dispersion of all sleeping facilities. "With 
the better information of the next day, we ascertained 
that the firing had been of a serious character. The 
iron steamer Thistle had preceded the Queen down the 
river, having in tow a lorcha of valuable goods, worth 
from forty to fifty thousand dollars, and first encountered 
these hostile junks. The attack was a very vigorous one, 
and the commander of the Thistle, a Dane, by the name 
of Weslein, behaved in a most gallant manner. He took 
the helm himself under the fire, and endeavored to run 
through the fleet with the lorcha, but finding he could not 
do this, he brought her alongside, removed every one 
from her, and cut her adrift, and passed the fleet with his 
steamer, having several of his men killed by the fire of 
the Chinese. It was in contemplation to give Captain 
Weslein a complimentary testimonial for his conduct upon 
this occasion, but before this was done a more unhappy 
day came, when his steamer was captured and burnt, he, 
and all on board, being massacred. Armed Chinese, in 
disguise, went on board of her as passengers, and at a 
favorable moment rose upon the ship's company, and de- 
stroyed it. 

During this state of affairs our communication with the 
shore is very much cut off, but it lias developed a curious 
feature of Chinese character, in the attachment to our ship 
of a small fleet of native boats. There is our " fast boat," or 
general carriage of all work, for ship visiting and gadding 



THE EEIGN OP TERROR. 475 

about the harbor ; one or two bum-boats, equivalent, the 
reader now knows, to the " corner grocery," without, how- 
ever, the liquor. From these the crew buy pies, cakes, 
cooked fish, eggs and meats, fruits, and fancy articles. 
These boats, all of them, hoist small American flags at their 
mast-heads, and identify themselves with our nationality. 
They are a great convenience to us in many ways, and 
especially in the laundry department, as our clothes are 
washed and ironed by the families of these small boats. 
All of them are tenanted by families, and old Assing, the 
pilot, has a wife and five children, the youngest six 
months old. Mrs. Assing is not at all satisfied with the 
state of affairs, and is very anxious that we should all get 
out of this locality, and worries the old man a good deal 
about it, urging him to leave us, if we will not go into 
safer regions. When making neighborhood trips in her 
boat, the old lady tells me piteously, in pigeon English, 
of the " too much fear" she has ; and upon one occasion 
Assing asked me when we would go down the river, as 
" my very much fear." I told him he need have no fear 
while with us, as we could protect him. 

"Byme-by," he replied, "you go ISTew York side — 
'Merrikey side ; my stay China side — mandarin cutee off 
my head, all my catchee, now forty- five dollar one moons ; 
no, enough." 

Having heard that criminals condemned to death will 
sometimes buy persons, who have distressed families, to 
suffer in their stead, the money being paid their families, 
it occurred to me to ascertain Assing's price for his head, 
as he evidently put a money-value upon it. When I 
asked the question he hesitated some moments, and then 
said : " Pay five hundred dollar my wife — my children — 
can take Assing's head," and I have no doubt that the 
article could have been had on the terms. 

In addition to our regular suite of boats, we have, 



4*70 ^ IN CHINA. 

almost constantly, just under the quarter, a group of men- 
dicant boats — miserable little floating troughs, with some 
wretched looking old man, old woman, or little child, 
who, by means of a sculling oar, constantly in motion, 
keeps in a position to pick up the scraps and offal of the 
ship ; no matter what — potato-parings or orange-peel — it 
is dexterously gathered up by a small hand net. 

Among these dependants is an intelligent, but distressed- 
looking, child, with whom I have got up such a friend- 
ship as prisoners do with the mice or spiders in their cell. 
He solitarily and patiently phes his oar all day. One 
wonders, in looking at his thin, ribby body, where the 
strength comes from. In my visits of relaxation to the 
poop-deck, I have made him the recipient of my small 
charities, sometimes going to the extravagance of pitching 
him a whole ship's biscuit or an orange. I am fully paid 
by seeing his eye brighten as I come, and to hear him say, 
in clear English, " Thank you." No other word has ever 
passed between us. 

From twelve till two o'clock we have much entertain- 
ment in an animated bazaar on board. However studi- 
ously or churlishly we may have shut ourselves up in 
our rooms, this daily trade brings us out. Venders of 
lacquer ware, of ivory, sandal-wood boxes, shawls, fans, 
camphor-wood desks, dressing cases, and chests, come off 
at this time, spread out their wares on the decks, or the 
tables of our apartments, and get up quite a lively scene 
in the competition of purchasing, or of amusement in the 
various ai^plications of " pigeon English." 

" My talkee true — propa price — plum cash ;" which 
last expression means prime cost. 

One hard-faced, grim and rascally old gentleman none 
of us will ever forget, as, with a sing-song voice, he con- 
stantly reminded us that his wares were " number one 
qualanty — good ting no cheap — cheap ting no good." 



THE EEIGN OF TEEROE. 477 

Some stupid, starch-laced 'Nslyj officers might have 
thought these scenes an invasion of disciplinary pro- 
priety, but in our position they were a moral good, and 
medicine for the mixed anxiety and monotony of our 
existence. 

As there was but one American trading house at 
Wham|)oa — the floating one of Cook's chop, of which the 
resident proprietor was the United States Vice Consul — 
and as our relations with the Chinese were nominally 
pacific, there did not seem to be sufficient reasons for 
keeping the squadron at Whampoa, and there were many 
requiring our presence in Hong Kong, where an immense 
amount of American shipping had gathered, and where 
much alarm and anxiety existed. Commodore Arm- 
strong, therefore, sent notice to the United States Vice 
Consul that he intended to leave that place, and tendering 
any facilities of convoy to those who did not feel willing 
to remain. 

Considering our friendly relations, and the understood 
disposition of some of the Chinese on shore, they all felt 
safe in remaining, merely requesting that the little steamer 
Kum Fa, which had been so active in our hostilities, might 
be taken with us. Engineers from our ship were put on 
board of her for that purpose, and on Christmas day we 
got under way to descend the river. It was a most beau- 
tiful day. As we passed the Boca Tigris, the Calcutta 
and Nankin were lying there. The extensive forts, with 
the exception af two on the islands in the river, were in 
ruins. These two were occupied by the English. 

Soon after passing this very picturesque point, and en- 
tering u]3on an expanse in the river which spreads away 
like a lake between its distant mountain shores, we came 
upon a most agreeable surprise. A steamer was on her 
way up from Hong Kong, and seeing our approach she 
gfcopj)ed ; a boat was sent her and we received our home 



478 - IN CHINA. 

letters by the last overland mail. Getting them so sud- 
denly, and in such an unexpected place, made them the 
greater prize, and our second Christmas from home quite 
a home festival. 

Arrived in Hong Kong, we found the place in great 
anxiety ; most of the British force was up the river. There 
had been rumors of a general massacre and burning of 
the city by the Chinese, who, even in that English to\\Ti, 
were in overwhelming masses. The hundred-dollar value 
for foreign heads still existed ; the Thistle, too, had been 
captured and burnt ; and the opportunity for plundering 
the city alone invited to conflagration, so that each day 
closed in apprehension as to what might happen before 
morning, and every day seemed to bring news of some 
unexpected tragedy. The inhabitants felt more unsafe 
than if upon a savage frontier, because to treachery and 
ferocity were added the resources of a great empire and 
the devices of a partial civilization. 

In this disturbed condition of things I was compelled, 
on account of the sick and wounded — the shattered and 
amputated limbs — to take a hospital on shore, and was 
fortunate enough to engage one in charge of an Itahan 
priest, the worthy Father Geronimo. It was in a remote 
part of the city, and surrounded above and below, for it 
stood on a hillside, by a dense Chinese population. 

In the existing state of things, the always foolish con- 
tempt with which John Chinaman had been viewed, now 
gave place to an exaggerated estimate of his prowess. 

It was a morning of congratulation when the night had 
passed without any realization of the existing apprehen- 
sions. Our situation was so exposed at the hospital, and 
our wounded, onr one-armed and one-legged men, so de- 
fenseless, that a part of the marine guard was stationed 
there, and another at the naval storehouse in the neigh- 
borhood — all under command of Captain John D. Simms. 



THE IlEIGN OF TEKKOE. 479 

Arrangements were also made for the landing of boats iu 
case of any night attack. Every private house had its 
guard of foreigners and its private armory. 

So far, every success had been with the Chinese. They 
had expelled us all from Canton, burnt the factories, cap- 
tured a valuable cargo, and destroyed the steamer This- 
tle, and soon after, in like manner, destroyed the Queen. 
Each report was of some new disaster. On the 5th of 
January all Hong Kong was excited by a report com- 
ing from among the Chinese themselves that the British 
armed steamer Coromandel had been taken and all hands 
destroyed. On the 6th, however, war-worn, but safe, she 
came into the harbor. Her account of the action in whitfh 
she had been engaged, gives some idea of the increasing 
boldness of the Chinese, and corrects the error of despis- 
ing their prowess and courage. Located in the hospi- 
tal, I became now a settled Fankwei, and will give the 
reader a look at my home and its surroundings, in which, 
too, we are to have some incidents. Although removed 
from the heart of Victoria by some distance, we are in 
the midst of busy scenes. Perched like a cage on the 
mountain side, which rises bold and craggy behind us, we 
look down upon the main thoroughfare, and over the bay 
to the hills an^ villages of the mainland of China, two 
miles distant. 

Directly under, and a little in front of our building is 
a large Chinese-owned rice-mill, worked by human foot- 
power, treading on the ends of levers which alternately 
raise and let fall a heavy pestle in a stone basin in which 
is contained the grain. Day and night this place is going. 
To me, and to most persons who come into my room, it is 
like the shaking of the machinery of a noisy steamboat, 
jarring the wood-work as this does my room. Some liken 
it to the tramp of horses, and others to the pounding of 
ail industrious i>'ano- of caulkers. 



480 , IN CHINA. 

Having become accustomed to it myself, I now never 
notice it unless my attention is called to it. It is the 
sound of the whole day until one o'clock in the morning, 
and then I believe there is an intermission until daylight. 
If, however, it stops at any other time, my attention is 
called and I awake from my sleep. During the height of 
the apprehension here respecting Chinese hostilities, the 
apprehension of blowing up, and conflagration, I was awoke 
one night by the sudden stillness of the rice-mill. It at 
once occurred to me that possibly the Chinese engaged in 
the establishment had made all their arrangements for 
blowing us up, as had those of the adjoining baking estab- 
lishments for poisoning us. I mentioned my suspicions to 
the officer associated with me on duty. We determined, 
however, that we must take our chance for that night, 
but to-morrow we would see what was under us. We 
were glad to find it all the sohd earth of the hill. The 
bakery from which all Hong Kong was poisoned is just 
above the rice-mill, and another opposition bakery drives 
its smoke into my windows from the opposite side. 

Nearly opposite to us is a busy ship-yard, the more 
busy now that the shipping is driven from the docks at 
Whampoa; and one side of us a gang of Chinese are act- 
ively employed in blasting and quarrying the granite 
from the hill. On one tumbling-down s^Dace of the hill 
are the remains of an old grave-yard, and to me it is a 
melancholy association, for the grave nearest my window, 
on the tumbling verge of the clayey hill, is that of a 
brother officer whom last I saw in life, in another hemi- 
s]3here, eighteen years ago, and then at a gay dinner party, 
giving his fine voice expression in one of the most beau- 
tiful songs of our language. What a contrast ! — there lie 
his bones. 

In front, we look out and down upon the bay, withnts 
shipping, and the villages of sampans, or small boats, 



THE REIGN" OF TERROR. . 481 

which, at the close of the day, gather to thek rendezvous, 
and cast then' joss-fires upon the waters. 

Opposite, about two miles away, are the hills and 
mountains of the mainland of China, and the white beach 
upon which we see people walking, is that of the Kow- 
loon shore. On a calm evening, it looks a pleasant and 
inviting pull in a boat over there, but, neighborly as the 
two shores seem, and placid as all looks, the white man 
who should try such an evening excursion would, prob- 
ably, leave his body there, while his head traveled in a 
sack to Canton. 

On the opposite side of the street, and a little below us, 
in a street made up of Chinese fruit shops, brokers' offices, 
cook-shops, tinmen, brass-founders, and the varied indus- 
try of these Celestials, rises a neat granite chapel, and 
next it is the residence of the Sisters of St. Paul, seven 
worthy, and, so far as my observation goes, agreeable 
women, who have charge of the " Asile de Sainte En- 
fan ce," an institution which receives and takes care of 
children abandoned by their parents. Many of these un- 
happy cases arise from the horror the Chinese have of 
having a death in the house, and hence they send a dying 
child to this institution, or abandon it to its fate by the 
road-side. A melancholy instance of this came under my 
own observation. 

The mountain, as before said, rises abrupt, rugged, and 
rocky, immediately back of the hospital. About twilight, 
on a Sunday evening, one of the men, who had been out 
walking in the day, came to me, and told me there was a 
little Chinese girl, about ten years of age, lying behind 
some rocks on the mountain side, in a dying condition. 
I immediately sent out to have the child brought in. The 
messengers returned, after dark, without her, and said 
there was a savage-looking Chinaman with the child, who 
refused to permit her to be taken away. 

21 



482 . IN CHINA. 

The Chinese belonging to our establishment told me 
that the parents of the child had hired this man to stay 
with her until she died, not wishing her to die in the 
house. Taking two of the men, I now went myself in 
search of the sufferer. By the light of a lantern, we 
clambered the mountain, but, after some difficult wander- 
ing among boulders, failed to find the place. The hght 
of the lantern confused the guide. Leaving the lantern 
with me, he continued the search in the dark. After an 
absence often or fifteen minutes, we saw him descending 
from above us, followed by the Chinaman, with the child 
in his arms. They said it was dead. However, upon 
lifting the lantern to its face, this was found to be a mis- 
take. It was rather a handsome child, with full face and 
large black eyes, which it turned inquiringly upon our 
strange features, but with an expression more of hope 
than fear. It slowly stretched its hands towards us, but 
could not speak. The pulse was very feeble, and the 
whole body chill with the damp night air. A very little 
more exposure would have put an end to its existence, or 
the ruffian who now held it in his arms would probably 
have aided the matter by laying his hand over its mouth 
and nose. With some trouble and delay, I found two old 
Chinawomen, who washed and clothed the child, and re- 
mained with it over night. By the administration of a 
little warm cunjee, or rice-water, and a little wine, the 
warmth returned to its skin, the pulse rose, and the 
brightness of its eyes seemed to give some promise of re- 
covery. On the following morning it was kindly received 
into the asylum of the Sisters of St. Paul, where it lived 
several days. 

Being immediately on one end of the Queen's road, I 
am called frequently to look over the front railing, by the 
sounds of music — if music it may be called — bagpipes, 
gongs, tom-toms, loud and rapid ; and, as we look down 



THE EEIGN OF TEEEOR. 483 

into the street, we see a rabble approaching iis almost at 
a trot, they walk so fast. 

First, we have the musicians, and then, resting in a 
square box, suspended from handles, resting on men's 
shoulders, is a pig — a full-grown hog, roasted whole 
and done brown. "What is it — a wedding or a funeral ? 
Slung on poles, resting on men's shoulders, there next 
comes part of a trunk of a tree, hewn smooth — a very 
cumbrous-looking affair. It is a funeral ; that is the coffin. 
Some have nothing but the plain wood, others are cov- 
ered with red cloth. Then follow five or six fancifully- 
ornamented sedan chairs, or rather small-sized temples, 
in each of which is some flower-dressed article of food. 
After these come half a dozen persons, in white sugar 
loafed caps, and three or four dressed in long white 
dresses. Behind all comes a solitary sedan chair, perhaps 
conveying some real mourner. The same music, the same 
provision for feasting, with a gayly-dressed sedan chair 
conveying the bride, substituted for the log-like coffin, 
makes the funeral a wedding. 

From our terrace look-out, we have a view of much of 
the economy of out-of-door Chinese life. In front of the 
ship-builder's residence is a long and comfortable veran- 
dah, projecting over the pavement, and sheltering it from 
sun or rain. I have made a very pleasant acquaintance of 
the eye (I mean they are among the familiar objects of 
my daily range of vision) with two respectable, matronly 
Chinese ladies, who daily come with their low stools and 
baskets of sewing, and take their seats under this veran- 
dah, and there remain quietly and industriously at work, 
until the hour of returning to the evening meal. These 
are pleasant objects, because they are so neat and tidy in 
their appearance, so industrious in their vocation, and 
their location is so suggestive of economy and good 
management. 



484 . IN CHINA. 

There they are, with plenty of air and light, well pro- 
tected from the weather, and immediately on the main 
thoroughfare, where they see every thing that is going 
on ; all so much more comfortable than staying all day 
in the, perhaps, crowded den which makes their home ; 
and then, I infer, they pay the ship-builder no rent for 
sitting under his porch. Sometimes, a Chinese cobbler, 
with his kit, joins the old ladies for a day or two, and 
they have quite a chat. He is not, however, a permanent 
tenant, but, I presume, travels round under all the porches 
and loafer-havens of Hong Kong, and brings to the more 
fixed occupants budgets of travelers' tales. Such are the 
economical uses made of all the sheltering appurtenances 
of Chinese towns. 

At the end of the short lane which led from the main 
street directly up to the hospital was a small porch in 
front of the Chinese shop. I got up quite an interest in 
the sitter under this porch. She evidently now belonged 
to one of the most humble walks of coolie life, as indicated 
by her j)osition as worker in the street — and by her poor 
attire. But she had been born to much more aristocratic 
position and with higher expectations, for she had the 
smallest of small female Chinese feet. Her ankles termi- 
nated in points smaller than the hoof of a new-born colt? 
and with all the poverty of her attire the boastful feet 
were clothed in neat crimson slippers. Although haggard 
and care-worn, her countenance was more intelligent, ani- 
mated and refined than was characteristic of the class to 
which she now belonged ; her complexion, too, was more 
fair. Playing around her on the ground were two little 
sickly-looking children, with their mother's thin, pale fea- 
tures. One of them more often lay languid and listless 
on the mother's knee. I necessarily had to pass this family 
group every time I went upon the street, and I got into 
the habit of giving a few copper cash to the children, who, 



THE EEIGN OP TERROE. 485 

when they saw me approaching, wonld run toward me, 
when they were well enough to do so, holding out their 
hands and crying, ^' Chin ! chin !" The mother made 
what I believed to be an affected effort to stop them, but 
would look pleased and thankful on account of the pit- 
tance given her children. I was even surprised at the 
delicacy which induced her to affect any objection to the 
" cum shau," as taking what they can get seems a proud 
Chinese virtue. However, I soon missed her and the 
children from the porch, and next noticed they had taken 
refuge with the elderly matrons on the opposite side, a 
position I less often passed. I once called the attention 
of a friend to her, remarking, " There is a Chinawoman 
whose delicacy is so great, I have driven her from her 
former locality by giving small sums of money to her chil- 
dren." He said that he would, therefore, as he passed 
that way, give them some money as a reward for her deli- 
cacy. He did so two or three times, and she again dis- 
appeared. 

There is, however, another possible theory of this mys- 
terious and uncharacteristic flitting. It is that, perhaps, 
in her fall from the aristocratic position of her birth, she 
may have dropped into the hands of some uncouth coohe 
of the neighboring workshops, and placing a mysterious 
value upon a gem which had unexpectedly fallen into his 
hands, he feared that all who approached it might equally 
value and desire it, and therefore by his lordly orders 
these movements — the pale woman with the little crim 
son-slippered feet and the two pale children were taken 
from the incidents of our every-day Hong Kong exist- 
ence. One little melancholy star which glimmered in the 
gloom had set, and the shade of darkness around us was 
more shadowy. 

Other of our neighborhood associations were sug- 
gestive of urbanity and kindly feeling. Down below us, 



486 IN CHINA. 

far between our upper-air elevation and the street, there 
seemed to be descending terraces of habitations, besides 
the mill which beat and pounded at the base. Some of 
these rooms Father Geronimo had let out to Portuguese, 
and even in this little and exceedingly limited and obscure 
part of a remote colony, I found there were distinct unas- 
similating and exclusive ranks. First, I say first, perhaps, 
because nearest to me — perhaps, because what is in na- 
ture first will rise above all conventionalities, and present 
itself first to the mind. In my professional capacity I 
came into intimate communion with all these classes, and 
marked their peculiarities. First, there was the family 
of a Portuguese mechanic, a baker. His children, boys 
and girls, all worked hard, following the example of their 
mother and himself. They rose early, fed the pigs and 
the poultry. My bedroom window overlooked these 
morning avocations. They dressed and went to school 
and chapel — learned English, wrote it well, spoke it well. 
They drudged in the laborious road of life, but hedged it 
with courtesies and graces. Having rendered them some 
httle professional assistance, almost daily, ever afterward, 
there came to my room a varied bouquet, or a glass dish 
of jasmins, banana flowers, etc. ; occasionally cake and 
confectionery, or the more substantial acknowledgment 
of a roast sucking pig bedded in roses and other bright 
flowers. And when I was about to leave their neighbor- 
hood, father and son came in their best attire with a final 
bouquet of gratitude. 

My neighbors were not confined to the shore. China 
is celebrated for the amount of its population which has 
no foot-hold upon the shore — families living in small boats 
as their only homes, and living, too, a healthy, cleanly 
and independent existence. No ground rent to pay, cer- 
tainly, and surrounded in abundance with two of the 
essential elements of comfort and health — air and water. 



THE KEIGliT OF TERROR. 487 

In the day-time one can scarcely realize the extent of this 
water population. The boats are then scattered, each 
family following its avocation. Upon landing from a 
ship visit on a very dark night, I fell in a quarter of a 
mile or more above the point I intended to strike, and I 
found myself almost lost in a floating city of small boats, 
and upon a part of the bay which I was accustomed to 
see every day as a piece of open water. The boat's crew 
were compelled to lay in their oars, and pull from boat to 
boat through such lanes as we could find, amid the clat- 
tering tongues of the women, the cries of disturbed 
children, and the perhaps alarmed patience of the men, 
who did not know what kind of an invasion was upon 
them. 

On the following evening I noticed these boats gradually 
gathering in — gathering in as birds to their nest ; and be- 
side this spectacle, interesting in itself, I had presented to 
me a most beautiful religious ceremonial. As each boat 
took up its anchorage, a member of the floating family, I 
presume the head, appeared suddenly with a bright torch 
of burning paper, which flashed brightly on the water, as 
it was waved two or three times toward some invisible 
deity, like the gleam of a meteor, and then, being cast 
upon the water, left the family to the repose of the con- 
sciousness of a fulfilled rehgious obligation. One after 
one, sometimes two or three at a time, of these fire offer- 
ings gleamed over the water as the boats came in to their 
rest, and in some of them the clanging of a gong accom- 
panied the offering. This noisy tribute or demand upon 
the deity may have been peculiar to Chinese pharisees 
who wished to be heard of men. But the offering itself 
shows how deeply implanted is the religious sentiment, 
and this evening worship only needs to be directed to 
the one God, with equal sincerity, to elevate and purify 
the national character. 



488 IN CHINA. 

On the morniug of April 3cl, we had the shock of one 
of those tragic occurrences which seem to be incident to 
the state of affairs in which we are living. Dii-ectly in 
the heart of the main street, an old gentleman was found 
strangled in his bed, the marks of the suffocating fingers 
upon his throat, and his Chinese cooHe had fled — a thing 
easy enough : a short pull of a boat would land him upon 
the Kowloon shore. It certainly seems most extraordi- 
nary that the English do not occupy that point. It is 
the basis of all hostility against Hong Kong, and the 
refuge of all who are guilty of crimes against the com- 
munity. 

On the night of this same day, as I was returning to 
my home, on one of the long, uninhabited reaches or 
commons below the town, I met three Chinamen in 
charge of a policeman, who had them, as is usual, tied 
together by their tails. Such an unhappy grouping was 
so common in these times that I was passing without 
giving more than a glance at the group, when, to my 
surprise, I heard my name, or rather title, called, almost 
in a tone of shrieking agony, by the tallest and most con- 
spicuous person of the group of prisoners. He was a very 
tall man and threw his arms high in the air as he called 
upon me. I found it a professional brother in distress, a 
tall Chinese leech vender, whose profession had brought 
us into acquaintance and sympathy. He had been caught 
out, after the fatal curfew hour, without a j^ass, and thus 
ingloriously tied by the queue to two other delinquents, 
was on his way to the lock-u]?. I could do no more for 
him than recommend him to the best treatment of his 
rough custodian. 

The Chinese have no Sabbaths. From day to day, 
without intermission, the toil and the noise of labor are 
seen and heard throughout the land. But as the year 
draws to a close, and the new year approaches, for weeks 



THE EEIGI^" OF TEEEOE. 489 

and months the enjoyments, the rest, the social meeting, 
the gathering of families together from long distances, 
are a constant subject of talk and happy anticipation. 
Then debts are to be paid, then the year's profits are to 
be estimated, and the costly wardrobes of Chinese gen- 
tlemen and ladies to be displayed — silks, satins and furs, 
decorations and jewelry. The wardrobe of any respect- 
able Chinese gentleman we know to be a costly affair, 
worth an occasional display. 

Money must be had at this time for the purposes of 
pleasure and to fulfill obligations, for the Chinaman who 
goes into the new year with debts unpaid, goes into it 
with disgrace. About this time it might be written in 
the Chinese almanacs, " expect dishonest servants," 

" For those steal now who never stole before, 
And those who always stole now steal the more." 

The shops begin to look gay — confectionery is more 
abundant and more brilliant, fire crackers more constant 
in their confused and confusing detonations. 

"Must catchee now for two, tree day!" says your 
Chinese servant as he steps into the room, and unwinding 
the tail wrapped around his head lets it fall to the floor ; 
to come into the presence of a superior without this mark 
of deference would be a discourtesy of which no well- 
bred Chinese would be, and no subordinate dare be, 
guilty. Courtesy and politeness is a Chinaman's religion. 

" What for must catchee ?" 

" Chinaman no makee pigeon now for two, tree day — • 
no can buy every ting." 

This year the English ordinances prohibited Chinese 
festivities, and they had to confine themselves to walk- 
ing about in their gay dresses, and this alone was a briL 
liant scene, or to leaving their crimson visiting cards with 

21* 



490 IN CHINA. 

their friends and acquaintances. I called npon some 
of my shop-keeping friends, left my card, and partook of 
their neat little tables of confectionery and other refresh- 
ments. 

Even om- sectional new year's calls are a Celestial 
inheritance. 

My Chinese acquaintanceship was neither numerous 
nor aristocratic; neither was my English. I belonged to 
a profession which was socially of low caste with both 
people. 

Among my earliest acquaintance with the natives 
was that of a genteel-looking, well-dressed man, in whose 
store I made a purchase, directing it to be sent on board 
ship. With my mind then imbued with the prevalent 
vulgar notions of Chinese trickery and dishonesty, I was 
annoyed upon finding the article delivered did not hold 
out in quantity, and went to the man and stated the de- 
ficiency. He replied with some dignity, shaming my 
irritation — " Of course what you say is correct, you need 
pay for only that you received." 

A more careful examination showed the mistake to be 
that of my servant — all had been delivered. I again went 
to the man and confessed my error; he said it was of no 
consequence, and politely invited me to take a glass of 
soda water with him. 

As the 15th of January, 1857, approached, all hands 
on board the San Jacinto were in a state of hopeful ex- 
ultation. Then she was to leave the disheartening scenes 
and life of Hong Kong for the pleasures and beauties of 
Manilla. But, alas, on the morning of the 15th there 
came a sickening disappointment. The breakfast in the 
hospital wards was an hour or two before my own, and 
soon after it had been served the hospital steward rushed 
into my room saying all the men in the hospital were 
poisoned. I hurried in and found it true. On both sides 



THE REIGK OF TERROR. 491 

of the long ward the men were suffering violent and dis- 
tressing illness, and all naturally in a great state of alarm. 
There was only one exception to the general sickness, 
and that man was suffering from lock-jaw in consequence 
of a rocket wound. 

I supposed the cause of illness was local, confined to 
our own estabhshment — the Chinese coolies were suffer- 
ing as well as our own men. The cook, a Chinaman, was 
very much frightened and agitated. In the course of two 
hours, by the use of appropriate remedies, the men were 
all relieved and quiet, and Captain Simms and I went to 
our breakfast, taking the precaution to make our own 
tea. By a most trivial and accidental occurrence neither 
of us ate any bread. This was supplied us from an out- 
side bakery ; and it was only after our own breakfast 
my attention was called to the fact that the lock-jawed 
man had escaped ; and he alone had eaten no bread. By 
this time, however, most of Hong Kong had breakfasted, 
and I received a hurried call from the ship-builder's es- 
tablishment on the opposide side of the street. They 
were all, European workmen and Chinese laborers, as my 
hospital had been two hours before. I had scarcely pre- 
scribed for them when a sedan chair came for me to 
hurry up to a friend's commercial establishment a mile 
or two up town. I found them in the like condition, in- 
cluding the commander of a Kussian man-of-war staying 
with them. But other medical gentlemen were in at- 
tendance. 

All Hong Kong was poisoned, from the governor and 
family down, and my honest friend, the gentlemanly 
grocer, Essing or Alum, with all his establishment, was 
arrested for the crime. 

The supposed plan was to poison all they could, and 
then take the city. Essing was the proprietor of the 
largest baking establishment in town, worked by expen- 



492 .IN CHINA. 

sive machinery. He supplied the city, the shijjping, the 
troops. In the first indignation it was proposed to exe- 
cute him summarily, but law and order prevailed, and he 
was committed for trial. I carefully studied the trial, and 
came to the conclusion that he had no knowledge of the 
matter or participation in it. The poison, arsenic in large 
quantities, was introduced into the bread by two of his 
workmen, who made their escape ; and it is creditable to 
an English jury that in the conviction of Essing's guilt 
resting on the public mind, they had the clearness of 
judgment and honesty of purpose to acquit him. He was, 
however, detained in prison after his acquittal, and ruined 
in name and fortune. 

The following extraordinary sentences are from the 
speech of the attorney general of the colony : 

" Would any one have disapproved if a different course 
had been pursued towards the prisoners, and instead of 
allowing them a trial, which such monsters do not de- 
serve, they had been dealt with in a summary manner, 
and had suffered those short and sharp pangs of death 
which they had intended we should suffer ? Their crime 
deserved the fate of a drum-head court martial; but 
much, gentlemen, as I may regret that they are before 
a jury at all, still they are now before one, and I am 
bound to tell you, that if any reasonable doubt of their 
guilt rests upon your minds, you are bound to acquit 
them. But, gentlemen, it will not be your duty to 
stretch the points set up for their defense to too great a 
length ; and in this opinion I feel certain the Bench will 
concur." 

A poetical narrator of the transaction seems to accord 
in the views of the attorney general, as did most of the 
foreign inhabitants of Hong Kong — 

"It has been inferred, 
By the historians of our present time, 



THE EEIGN OF TEEEOE 493 

That in the long, elaborate summing up, 
In which his lordship was most fair and clear, 
' There sometimes would peep out a word or two, 
As if conviction in that good man's mind 
Were somewhat certain of the prisoners' guilt. 
Howe'er it be, the gentlemen with whom 
The fiat rested, or for death or life. 
Chose, no doubt wisely, to accord the last. 
The chief raised high his most celestial cap, 
And bowed his gratitude — both for himself 
And martyr-comrades. He could be polite — 
(So too can cut-throats). — But, 't was not polite 
For one unfeeling rascal to roar out. 
As he, the freed conspirator^ passed down 
The court-house steps — ' 0, ye Gods ! I wish 
That we could know, but for one single hour, 
The Vigilance Committee, or Judge Lynch.' " 

Altogether the state of things was very uncomfortable, 
and it was thought hardly in accordance with duty to our 
own countrymen and with comity towards the English, 
for the San Jacinto to leave the colony at this time, es- 
pecially as Commodore Armstrong had received the fol- 
lowing request from Sir John Bowring : 



No. 14. GrOYERNMENT OFFICES, 

YiCTORiA, HoNa Kong, January 6, IBS'?. 

SlE, 

A number of masters of American merchant ves-' 
sels now lying at anchor in this port, have suggested to 
Captain Watkins, the harbor master, the expediency of 
my making application to your Excellency for assistance 
in securing the protection of the shipping at night. 

In the present state of affairs I do not hesitate to ac- 
cede to this suggestion, and shall feel greatly obliged if 
your Excellency can make arrangements for rowing guard 
during dark. 



494 IN CHINA. 

The scantiness of the British naval force permanently 
in harbor, and the large amount of mercantile shipping 
now berthed here, induce me to trouble your Excellency 
with this request. 

I have the honor to be. 
Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 

John Bo wring. 

Governor, etc. 

His Excellency Commodore Armstrong, etc, etc., etc., 

United States Steam Frigate San Jacinto. 

But, as before said, the times were very uncomfortable. 
The Chinese authorities had issued a proclamation for all 
Chinese to leave the employ of foreigners. The English 
had passed an ordinance that authorized any foreigner to 
shoot any Chinaman who might be found in the streets 
after 8 p. m., unless he answered a hail, and no court or 
authority was to inquire into the act. Two English po- 
licemen w^ere found in the streets shorter their heads. 
One of our marines was missed from roll-call, and his dead 
body came ashore ; his cries of murder and for assistance 
having been heard two or three nights before. 

After 8 o'clock at night the streets, which last summer 
were thronged, are deserted — every house was a fortress. 
Solitary passers about are belted with sword and pistol. 
Drum-beatings, armed patrols, guard -mountings, hails of 
sentries, meet you in the once peaceful streets. Before 
night sets in you may meet the musters of special police, 
composed of Malays, Lascars, humble citizens out of em- 
ploy, drunken sailors, and even Chinese, with muskets, 
pistols, pikes, and all sorts of outre costumes. 

Take us Fankwei altogether, we are, gentlemen, sol- 
diers, rough-scuff and all, drunk and sober, about two 
thousand on the island of Hong Kong. The Chinese are 
seventy thousand. 



THE EEIGN OE TEEROE. 495 

Whilst this state of things was wearing out time and 
men, I was sitting quietly in my room one evening, re- 
moved, by a charming page, to other scenes, when I 
smelt strongly the odor of burning pine. I thought my 
room must be on fire close to me, and even fancied I saw 
smoke in the air ; but upon a careful examination, discov- 
ering nothing of the kind, I resumed my book, although 
the odor continued and increased. In about half an hour 
I was aroused by a confused noise in the streets, and look- 
ing out, saw a dense column of smoke ascending from 
behind the residence of the " Sisters of St. Paul," and 
immediately it burst into flame. 

Upon hurrying to the spot I found it was the flour 
warehouse of an Englishman by the name of Duddell, who 
had taken the unfortunate Essing's establishment. While 
fire engines were hurrying to the conflagration, troops 
were mustering in the defenseless parts of the city, so 
that all purpose of greater evil than the destruction of 
the flour was prevented. But the enemy's incendiaries 
were evidently among us. 

Sometime after this. Commodore Elliott captured some 
Mandarin junks, and on board were found certain papers 
which made developments respecting the fire, the poison- 
ing, and other pleasant demonstrations in which we were 
interested, telling us of some which had failed, but_,of 
which we had no knowledge. The following are the 
revelations of these interesting documents : 

"Man-hing— the nephew of Man Tsap-shin, a gentle- 
man, the author of an unsuccessful attempt to burn or 
blow up the city of Victoria, and the probable agent in 
the destruction of Duddell's store, of which his nephew 
gives notice two days before." They kept a close eye 
upon us. 

• On the 21st of January, Ch'an Tsz'-tin informs his 
brother that his braves are so planted at Sha-tin and Tai- 



496 IN CHINA. 

wei, in rear of Kowloon, as to command all tlie approaches 
to the latter place, which is separated from the others by 
the steep range of hills facing Hong Kong. Victoria, he 
hears, is in great perplexity. " A proclamation is issued 
once a day, and three sets of regulations every two days. 
People abroad at night are taken up in haste, and dis- 
charged with equal precipitation." No one is allowed 
out after eight o'clock ; the shops are forced to take out 
tickets (passes ?) and to pay sixteen dollars a ticket, and 
these have to be changed every few, days. Boats passing 
to and fro between Kowloon and Victoria are not searched, 
but a bakery (it is not here stated whose) had been closed, 
and some forty people imprisoned for poisoning a number 
of English devils. 

On the 24th of January, he reports an improvement in 
the working of the interdict to the eastward, in the re- 
gion overlooked by his pickets. Two of his braves have 
visited Victoria, and counted one hundred and ten foreign 
vessels in harbor, but declare that there is not one tenth 
of the usual quota of native craft belonging to the prov- 
ince. There are some from other provinces, viz., north 
and east coasters. The west end of the city is quite de- 
serted, and the English, by the unanimous declaration of 
the Chinese, thoroughly dispirited. All mat and wooden 
buildings had been demolished toward East Point. He 
also reports a great burglary in the centre of Victoria ; 
the burglars had escaped with several thousand dollars, 
over the hills. 

On the 5th of February, Ch'an Tsz'-tin writes to his elder 
brother Ch'an Kwei-tsih, that an intended expedition 
of the braves across the water (to Hong Kong) had 
failed. The English were too well on their guard. Can- 
non are fired by night at intervals, to keep their spirits 
up. Cruisers constantly sweep the harbor. The black 
troops who have come on, drill incessantly. " Such 



THE KEIGN OF TERR OK. 497 

being the doubt and alarm of the English rebels, we 
must wait until they tire a little; a blow will then be 
sure." This was the first notice we had of such a hostile 
movement. 

Ch'an Tsz'-tin has further news from Victoria. After 
admitting his misgivings above-mentioned, he thinks we 
are " so utterly broken" that we shall not venture to dis- 
turb Kowloon. The Americans, at Hong Kong, look on 
the present state of things as full of danger, and are send- 
ing their ships away. 

He is sanguine about the safety of Kowloon, and his 
confidence is strengthened on the 21st of February, when 
an English steamer brought over seventy-two pirates and 
surrendered them to the fort. Kowloon was in great 
alarm, and the garrison stood to their arms. The English 
went away, however, without doing any mischief "What 
their purpose (or intention) may be, it is indeed difficult 
for any man to divine." 

This vigilant Chinaman is not the only one mystified 
by this transaction. It refers to a capture, made in the 
vicinity of Hong Kong, of some Chinese junks. It was 
doubtf il whether they were pirates or rebels. Instead 
of trying the question in Hong Kong, the EngUsh authori- 
ties sent them over to Kowloon, where, if rebels, their 
fate was certain. The leader claiming to be a rebel chief, 
protested against this surrender, in the following lan- 
guage : 

He said, " Had I been found guilty of any thing against 
the laws of Hong Kong I would cheerfully have given up 
my life, but with no such charge against me, to be handed 
over to the men against whom I have been so lono- en- 
gaged in upholding what I consider a good cause, the act 
is infamous." 

The following are two verses of reference to the matter, 
by a poet of Hong Kong : 



498 IN CHINA. 

THE KO^'LOON DISPATCH. 

Sir John presents his compliments 

To his friends on the Kowloon shore, 
And begs to submit to their tender care 

Some seventy subjects or more. 

The prisons are full, and the den is unfit, 

At least so the public say ; 
So he trusts that his Kowloon friends can dispose 

Of the dogs in some quieter way. 

The captured dispatches contained this other pleasant 
information : 

On the 21st of February, Ch'an man-sin, nephew of 
Ch'an Sz'-tin, writes to his uncle to inform him that the 
San-on committee had forwarded to Canton an English 
head taken from an English cruising boat (it is believed 
he means to say near Aberdeen on the south side of the 
island). The*rest of the crew escaped to land. "The 
Canton committee are giving now only thirty taels for 
devils taken, dead or alive." (It will be remembered that 
Yell's earlier proclamations promised one hundred taels 
reward for Enghshmen taken alive. He then interlines.) 
" For a devil's head they may possibly give but thirty 
dollars ; the San-on committee (consequently) do not now 
much prize devil's heads." He goes on to mention, that 
some days had elapsed before the braves consented to re- 
ceive the reward lately sent ; requests his uncle, if he is 
going to employ his own braves in the getting of heads, 
to tell them plainly the state of the case ; and, finally, 
recommends him not to be keen in the head-hunting, as 
it is unremunerative. 

These Chinese documents give an outside view of our 
settlement and the designs upon it. For the security our 
squadron gave to Hong Kong in this reign of terror, the 
United States received through Lord Napier the thanks 
of the British government, conveyed as follows: 



THE EEIGN OF TERROR. 499 

COPY. 

Naty DEPARTiiENT, April 22d, 185 iT. 
Sir, — 

I take much pleasure iu forwarding to you the 
inclosed copy of a note of the 17th instant, addressed to 
the Department of State by the British minister, express- 
ing the thanks of his government for assistance rendered 
by you in protecting the property and commercial inter- 
ests concentrated at Hong Kong. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
{Signed) I. Toucey. 

CoiiMODORE James Armstrong, 

Commanding U. S. Squadron, 

East India and China Seas, 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuyel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 
COPT. 

Her Majesty's Legation, 
"Washixgtojst, April lltb, ISST. 
Sir,— 

Her Majesty's government have learned, with 
much gratification, from Sir John Bowring, that the 
officer in command of the United States naval forces at 
Hong Kong has afforded his cooperation to the British 
authorities for the protection of the valuable property 
and commercial interests concentrated at that port. I 
am directed by the Earl of Clarendon to tender his 
thanks to the United States government for the assist- 
ance and good offices so obligingly granted by Commo- 
dore Armstrong. 

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, 
Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

{Signed) Napier. 

The Honorable Lewis Cass, etc., etc., etc. 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 



500 IN" CHINA. 

As the year 185*7 passed along, all foreign residents in 
China had learned to respect the prowess of the once de- 
spised Chinese. The following language of a Hong Kong 
pajDer shows the changed judgment : 

"That the Chinese have abandoned all hope of meeting 
us with great guns is not to be wondered at, but that they 
are confident of their ability to repel us in the field, the 
little affair of the ' Bantam' (a recent action in which the 
British were driven off), we submit, fully illustrates. In- 
deed they seem anxious to fight, and their courage against 
such desperate odds shows matter for congratulation that 
we have commanders who do not despise* the enemy." 

But troops, black and white, ships and gun-boats, French 
and English, thickened as the year advanced, and on its 
last days, the contest was relinquished ; a slight resistance, 
and the City of Rams fell into the hands of the allied bar- 
barians, who, at last, though excluded for a thousand years, 
trod its streets as masters. 

Everybody expected the capture of Canton, and there- 
fore this was no surprise ; but none looked for the taking 
of that great living mystery, Yeh-ming-ching, or, as he 
is generally called by the Chinese, Yeep. The hered- 
itary baron, the fourth prince of the empire, he who had 
chopped off one hundred thousand rebel heads ; the hyena 
dragging his enemies from their graves ; the wolf tear- 
ing them down amid the faintings of famine ; the tiger 
springing upon them in the moment of security ; the lion 
roaring a bold and gallant defiance to all the world ; the 
wily fox writing diplomatic essays upon morality, and 
deceiving all who trusted his virtue — for all this was Yeh 
— was taken in his den; 

At one time it was reported he had died the " golden 
death," the honorable end of a defeated Chinese states- 
man. As explained to me, it is effected by swallowing 
some destructive fluid, cuj^ped in golden leaf. Our friend 



THE EEIGN OF TEEROE. 501 

Lan, the Tautai, whom we met at Shanghae, did die this 
death, but Yeh became a prisoner on board an Enghsh 
man-of-war. He attempted to escape in the dress of a 
laborer, and one of his friends made a chivah'ic attempt 
to pass himself off for his master ; but he was as wonderful 
looking as he is wonderful, and was recognized ; being 
about fifty, nearly six feet high, of great corporeal volume 
and with an enormous brain. Physically and mentally 
he is great. 

Taken with him was Moh, the Tartar general, and 
Pehkwei, the Governor proper of Canton. This last, a 
native of Pekin, had filled several important offices in 
different parts of the empire. Some years ago he visited 
Sir John Davis at Hong Kong. Subsequent to this visit, 
in 1849, he had a conversation with the late Emperor Ta- 
oukwang. It is given in Meadows's " Chinese and their 
Rebellions," and is worth repeating, as showing how they 
regard this city of Hong Kong ; how they look upon for- 
eigners and that commerce which we regard as the ulti- 
mate end of war and diplomacy. 

He said to the emperor : 

" The English barbarians have gone to great expense 
in building houses, with the view of permanently residing 
there (Hong Kong) and living in quiet. The people of 
Hong Kong and its neighborhood took, at an early pe- 
riod, an aversion to these barbarians ; and local bandits 
have long been waiting, with mouths watering, for the 
place. The barbarians are therefore constantly in dread, 
fearing they may lose it." 

Emperor, So they have added to their troubles by giv- 
ing themselves another internal care. However, notwith- 
standing this, they have always got their own country for 
a haunt (literally, nest and den, expressions frequently 
applied to the capitals of foreign sovereigns). 

Answer, Yes, Sire. 



502 IN CHINA. 

Emperor. Do you think, from the appearance of things 
in Kwang tung, that the English barbarians or any other 
people will cause trouble again ? 

Ansioer. No. England itself has got nothing, and when 
the English barbarians rebelled in 1841, they depended 
entirely on the power of the other nations, who, with a 
view to open trade, supported them with funds. In the 
present year the (here follow two words which do not 
make sense with the context, " teen te," literally, " laws 
and territory ;" probably, " subject territories" were the 
words used) of England yield her no willing obedience. 

Emperor. It is plain from this that these barbarians al- 
ways look on trade as their chief occupation, and are 
wanting in any high purpose of striving for territorial ac- 
quisitions. 

Answer. At bottom they belong to the class of brutes 
(dogs and horses) ; it is impossible they should have any 
high purpose. 

Emperor. Hence in their country they have, now a wo- 
man, now a man as their prince (wang). It is plain they 
ai-e not worth attending to. Have they got, like us, any 
fixed time of service for their soldiers' head, Bonham ? 

Answer. Some are changed once in two years, some 
once in three years. Although it is the prince of these 
barbarians who sends them, they are, in reality, recom- 
mended by the body of their merchants. 

Emperor. What goods do the French trade in ? 

Answer. The wares of these barbarians are only cam- 
lets, woolen cloth, clocks, watches, cottons and the like. 
All the countries have got them, good or bad. 

Emperor. What country's goods are dearest ? 

Answer. They have all got both dear and cheap. There 
is no great difference in their pric es (of similar articles) ; 
only, with respect to the camlets, the French are said to 
be the best. 



THE EEIGN OF TEREOE. 603 

Emperor. It appears to me tliat the barbarians depend 
entirely on Kwang tung for gaining their livehhood. 

Ansioer. The people of Kwang tung thoroughly see 
that the barbarians can not do without that province. 

Emperor. Have the English barbarians of late been re- 
duced in power or not ? 

Answer. They appear to be somewhat reduced. 

Emperor. Do the soldiers at Hong Kong amount to 
three or four thousand ? 

Answer. I^ot more than two or three thousand, the 
greater half of whom are really but nominal. The greater 
half of the green-clothed soldiers (Ceylon Rifles ?) have 
dispersed on account of the insufficiency of the funds for 
the troops. Trade does not flourish at Ningpo and those 
ports. 

Emperor. I have heard that it is not good at Ningpo 
and Amoy, and at Shanghae too. From this we see that 
prosperity is always followed by decay. 

Answer. The English barbarians were in a bad state 
last year in their own country, where they were visited 
by an epidemic ; and in Hong Kong, last year, upwards 
of a thousand people died from the hot exhalations. 

Emperor. In all afiairs prosperity is followed by decay. 
What avails the power of man ? 

Ansioer. Your Majesty's divine fortune is the cause (of 
the decay of the English power). 

Amid these unhappy conditions of Fankwei and Celes- 
tial, information reached Commodore Armstrong that 
possibly some of our countrymen were in slavery among 
the savages of the island of Formosa. It was also very 
uncertain what might be our ultimate relations with the 
Chinese, and hence all attainable information respecting 
this island was desirable. The Commodore, therefore, 
dispatched Captain Simms, of the marine corps, to For- 
mosa, where an American merchant had an independent 



504 IN CHINA. 

settlement, to make inquiries respecting om- reputed en- 
slaved people, and to acquire such other information as 
might be useful. 

In taking this stej). Commodore Armstrong anticipated 
the subsequent orders of the government. Captain Simms, 
after a residence of some months, made the following re- 
port of his mission. It presents an interesting glance 
at a part of Formosa, and goes far to allay the unhappy 
anxiety of those who have had friends in ships which have 
been lost in those wild and desolate regions. 

Shanghae, Decemler l'7th, 1857. 
Sir: 

I wrote you on the 25th ultimo, informing you 
of my arrival here from Formosa. My letter w^as a very 
hurried one, as I only heard, a very short time before I 
wrote, that an opportunity was afforded me to do so. 
I will now endeavor to give you a fuller account of my 
mission to Formosa. A few weeks after my arrival at 
Takow — my designated station — I forwarded your dis- 
patch, accompanied with a Chinese translation of it, to 
the Teen Tae. 

I sent it through the mandarin who commands the 
department of Cocksicon, who promised to have it safely 
delivered. After a long delay I received a document, 
which was delivered to me by the Chinese shroff of 
Messrs. W. M. Robinet & Co., who informed me that 
it was for you, and was written by the official through 
whom I had sent your letter. The shroff also informed 
me that the mandarin directed him to say to me, that 
the Teen Tae would not receive the dispatch I had sent 
him, assigning as a reason for his refusing to do so, that 
the authorities of the island could hold no diplomatic 
correspondence with foreigners without permission of the 
Emperor of China. 



THE EEIGN OF T E R E O E . 505 

Previous to my sending your letter to the Teen Tae, I 
had an interview with the mandarin through whom I 
transmitted it, and explained to him that my visit to 
Formosa was of a friendly nature, and that your letter 
was an amicable one. He appeared to be very desirous 
to give me every facility in his power to accomplish the 
object of my visit, and promised to use every effort to 
acquire the information I wished. He was in charge of 
the district of Cocksicon at the time I sent my dispatch, 
but has now charge of the department of Tamsui, situated 
on the northern part of the island. I frequently visited 
him before his departure for Tamsui, and urged him to 
use every endeavor to discover if any foreigners were 
prisoners on the island. He always assured me that he 
had done all in his power, and, from the information he 
obtained, he was convinced there were no white persons 
held in captivity by the Chinese inhabitants. In regard 
to their being any prisoners among the aborigines of 
the island, he could give no information, as there is con- 
stant war between the two nations, and no Chinaman 
dares to enter their territory. These aborigines live 
generally in the mountains, and I have not been able to 
see any of them ; some few have been met with in the 
northern end of the island by the masters of trading ves- 
sels, who describe them as resembling the Malays, and as 
being a savage race. During my stay at Takow a report 
was in circulation that some white persons were prisoners 
with these natives. I made the most particular inquiries 
to discover if such was the case, but could learn nothing 
to make me think there was truth in the report. I 
have not allowed myself to be influenced by the state- 
ments of the Chinese officials, but have mixed a great 
deal with the people, for the purpose of getting all the 
information possible, but could never hear of any for- 
eigners being prisoners on the island. I have had no op- 

22 



506 • IN CHINA. 

portimity until now to forward you the mandarin's letter 
to yourself. 

In relation to the outrage alleged to have been com- 
mitted by the Chinese inhabitants of Takow upon the 
officers of the American brig Progressive Age, I have 
been unable to learn any thing from the Chinese authori- 
ties, as they pretend not to know any thing about the 
affair. I inclose you a statement from Mr. Marcus L. 
Woodard, who was one of the parties ill treated, and 
from all I could learn at Takow, I think his account of 
the affair is a correct one. 

During my stay in Formosa, I made several trips into 
the country, and was always kindly treated. On the 
13th of August last, in company with M. Markwald, 
Esq., the agent of Messrs. Robinet & Co., I visited a 
Chinese town named Pitow, which is seven miles in the 
interior from Keow. Our road took us through a very 
beautiful country. On all sides were to be seen luxuriant 
fields of rice and sugar cane ; indigo and hemp were also 
to be seen amongst the numerous productions of the fer- 
tile soil. I never tired admiring the beautiful scenery, 
and regretted exceedingly that I had not artistical skill 
sufficient to sketch the j)icturesque landscape that w^as 
presented to my view. We traveled in sedan chairs, 
carried by Chinese coolies, and were nearly three hours 
in reaching our place of destination. Pitow is a walled 
town, and contains about seven thousand inhabitants. 
We went all through it, and were kindly treated. The 
people crowded around us, and regarded us with a great 
deal of wonder, but their curiosity never led them to be 
rude. They are very timid, much more so than any 
Chinese I have yet met with. 

After spending a few hours looking about the city, we 
took up our lodgings at the house of one of the officials, 
vAio treated us very hospitably, and gave us a Chinese 



THE EEIGN OF TERROR. 507 

dinner. Having seen all that was interesting in Pitow, we 
returned to Takow. This last-named town is also called 
Keow by some, and is only a place of residence of fisher- 
men and their families. Its harbor is considered the best 
in Formosa. There is a bar at the entrance, on which, 
at the highest tides, there are twelve feet of water, and 
at the lowest, nine feet. 

The entrance to the port is very narrow, being only 
about two hundred feet in width. On the 10th of Sep- 
tember, Captain Bovey, of the English bark New Mar- 
garet, very kindly invited Mr. Markwald and myself to 
take passage in his ship up to Ungpong, the sea-port of 
Tayman-Ho, the capital of Formosa. We accepted his 
invitation, and as he sailed the same day he gave us his 
kind offer, we immediately went on board, and arrived 
the next day off our destined port, but, owing to very 
rough weather, we did not land until five days after our 
arrival. 

We had to pass through a very heavy surf while crossing 
the bar, upon which there is about four feet of water. In 
crossing the bar we narrowly escaped capsizing, being 
struck with a heavy roller. After getting out of the 
breakers, we found ourselves in a small bay, with very 
little water, the whale-boat yi which we were frequently 
touching the ground. After a pull of about an hour, we 
entered a large canal, which leads up to the city of Tay- 
man-Ho. At this point, we exchanged our European 
boat for a Chinese sampan, and in two hours we were in 
the capital of Formosa. At the entrance of the canal to 
which I have alluded, there are the ruins of a very large 
fortification, which was built by the Dutch during the time 
they were settled on the island. This fortification must 
have been of immense strength, as those walls which are 
now standing are of great thickness, and a deep and wide 
ditch surrounds it. Below the fort there is now a water 



508 . IN CHINA. 

battery, upon which fifty guns might be mounted, but at 
2)resent it has only about fifteen. From what I could see 
of them, they were only fit to frighten Chinese pirates, 
but against Europeans they would not be very efiicient. 
We lived in the suburbs of Tayman-Ho, as no foreigners 
are permitted to reside in the city proper, which is a 
walled town, but its walls are in a very dilapidated condi- 
tion, and would be of very little use in case the city was 
attacked by any civilized nation. "We remained four 
days at our hong, and were always treated with polite- 
ness. During our stay, I made all the inquiries in my 
power in relation to persons being confined on the island, 
but learned nothing. After fruitless eflbrts to enter the 
walled portion of the town, and having seen all that was 
to be seen in that part of the town in which we had taken 
up our quarters, we took our departure on the 18th of 
September for Keow, which place we reached the same 
night, at nine o'clock. Our mode of traveling was in 
sedan chairs, which was by no means so pleasant or expe- 
ditious as our railroads at home. We passed through a 
country very much like that I have described in my visit 
to Pitow. The population is very dense, as the Chinese 
only occupy the plains, while the aborigines inhabit the 
mountainous parts of the island. Coal, camphor, and sul- 
phur are to be found in Formosa, and I was informed that 
gold was also to be obtained. Camphor appears to be 
very abundant, and large quantities are exported from 
the island. I have not been able to visit the coal mines, 
but have been informed by those who have visited them, 
that, with proper machinery, they could be worked with 
great success. 

In my communication to you of the 25th ultimo, I in- 
formed you I would remain here until further orders from 
yourself, but, as the schooner Carbon leaves here in a 
few days for Takow, and wishing not to be too long ab- 



THE HEAVENLY PRINCE. 509 

sent from my post, I have determined to return in her, 
and await your further instructions. 
I am, sir, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
{Signed) John D. Simms, 

Brevet Captain United States Marines. 

CoMMODOEE James Aemsteong, 

Commanding United States Naval Forces, 

East India and China Seas, 
United States Steam Frigate San Jacinto, 
Hong Kong. 

True copy. A. Van Den Heuvel, 

Commodore's Secretary. 



XXXVII. 

THK HEAVENLY PRINCE. 

One Sunday, upon returning to the hospital, I was in- 
formed that the Rev. Mr. Roberts, a Baptist missionary, 
was in the ward among the sick, where he had been upon 
a former occasion during my absence. 

This most worthy man has an association with the great 
rebellion which is now shaking the Chinese empire, from 
having been the theological instructor of Hung-Sew- 
Tseuen, the founder of this rebellion. 

Mr. Roberts did me the favor to stay and dine with 
me. In the course of our conversation, I learned that 
he was a native of Tennessee, but brought up in Ken- 
tucky. There seemed a fitness in these States having a 
relationship to the wonderful movement of progress and 
reform in the Chinese empire. 

The following account of Hung-Sew-Tseuen is con- 
densed from Meadows's " Chinese and their Rebellions." 
In a note the author remarks, 

"At l^ankin, the most active of the more military 



510 IN CHINA. 

leaders — the N'orthern Prince, who had never seen any 
foreigner until I found him there, spoke to me about Mr. 
Roberts with much interest and respect, merely in con- 
sequence of the account which had been given him by 
the then ' Heavenly Prince,' Hung-Sew-Tseuen." 

Hung-Sew-Tseuen was born in 1813, thirty miles north- 
east of Canton. His father being a poor peasant, he early 
exhibited such intellectual capacity, that his family ex- 
erted themselves to educate him ; and as he advanced 
toward manhood, he was relieved from hard manual labor 
by being appointed the village schoolmaster. In 1833 
and 1837 he made unsuccessful examinations in a com- 
petition for literary degrees in the city of Canton, or, as 
it is properly called, Knang-Chow-Foo. At the last of 
these visits, his attention was attracted by a Protestant 
missionary, preaching by the aid of an interpreter in the 
streets of Canton. At the same time he received from 
Leang-a-fah, a Chinese friend, who had been converted 
to Christianity, a number of tracts which had been com- 
posed by himself, consisting of essays and sermons, with 
chapters from the Old and New Testaments, and called 
" Good Words for Exhorting the Age." 

The mental and physical exhaustion consequent upon 
the competition at the literary examinations is very great, 
and sometimes terminates in death. Hung-Sew-Tseuen 
was very ill for forty days after his failure in 1837, and 
during this illness he had some wonderful dreams or 
visions, compounded of Buddhistic and Confucian super- 
stitions, modified by the twenty-first chapter of Revela- 
tion, one of those contained in Leang-a-fah's tracts, and 
which Hung-Sew-Tseuen, it is inferred, had glanced at 
previous to this illness. After his recovery he returned 
to his duties as village schoolmaster. During six follow- 
ing years, till 1843, Leang-a-fah's books lay unnoticed 
in Hung-Sew-Tseuen's book-case, when circumstances 



THE HEAVENLY PRINCE. 511 

brought them to the notice of Le, a friend of his. They 
both studied the tracts, and Hung-Sew-Tseuen saw in 
them the key to his former vision, which now he beheved 
to have revealed to him God — Jesus Christ — idols as de- 
mons, and the people of the world as brothers and sis- 
ters. He and Le were converted, administering the rite 
of baptism to themselves, and commenced preaching. 

Hung-Sew-Tseuen took the high ground that he was 
appointed by God in his vision, and by these books, to 
the conversion of his country to the worship of the true 
God — ^the God of the early ages of China for the Manchoo 
subjugation. 

His first converts were among his own family and rel- 
atives and village schoolmasters. One of these, Fung- 
Yun-Sau, was the most zealous and important. Finding 
themselves abandoned by their pupils, Hung-Sew-Tseuen 
and Fung-Yun-Sau traveled as peddlers of ink and writ- 
ing brushes, preaching the new faith. They made many 
converts; but after a few months' absence, they started 
at separate periods of time to return to their native prov- 
ince; but Fung-Yun-Sau on the way engaged himself 
among a gang of earth carriers, converted some of them, 
with their employer, who employed him as a teacher. 
He remained several years in the neighborhood, convert- 
ing families and tribes, who organized themselves under 
the name of the "Society of God-worshipers." "It," 
says Mr. Meadows, J^' was this society which subsequently 
formed the strength of the religious political rebelHon that 
now shakes the imperial throne, though in its founder, 
the earth carrier, Fung-Yun-Sau, I believe we have at 
once the most zealous and the most disinterested preacher 
of the new faith in its sobetest form." 

In 1847 Hung-Sew-Tseuen, who had been engaged in 
various religious writings, entered himself with Mr. 
Roberts, as a student of the Bible. Mr. Roberts says. 



512 IN CHINA. 

that though able and studious, he saw nothing in him 
indicating his subsequent remarkable career. After two 
months' study he left Mr. Roberts's establishment, this 
gentleman having refused to receive him by baptism, be- 
cause he at the same time applied for a monthly support, 
being induced to this by the persuasion of a countryman 
in the same establishment. He, however, saw the reason- 
ableness of Mr. Roberts's course, and has since spoken of 
him in terms of respect and gratitude. 

Hung-Sew-Tseuen declared, "Too much patience and 
humility do not suit our present times, for therewith it 
would be impossible to manage this perverted genera- 
tion." In the execution of this sentiment he and his fol- 
lowers proceeded to the violent demolition of idols, and 
were first brought into conflict with the civil power. 
Fung-Yun-Sau was imprisoned ; but the Chinese govern- 
ment had granted freedom of Christian worship to Chi- 
nese as well as to foreigners, and uj/on this plea Hung 
Sew-Tseuen intended to apply for the liberation of his 
friend and colleague. Fung-Yun-Sau, however, being sent 
in charge of two policemen to his native province, con- 
verted them on the way, and they followed him to the 
rendezvous of the new sect. In the autumn of 1850 the 
society of God-worshipers came into conflict with the 
local authorities, and at once assumed the attitude of po- 
litical rebellion. 

Events transpiring about this period, tended to bring 
about this wide and hostile relation to the Chinese em- 
pire. In 1849 the British squadron on the coast of China 
broke up a large number of pirates. These united them- 
selves with bands of bandit rebels in the province of 
Kwang-se, in which were concentrated the society of 
God-worshipers. Hung-Sew-Tseuen, being compelled to 
defend himself against an attempt of the ^Mandarin gov- 
ernment to capture him, organized all these robber rebels 



THE HEAVENLY PRINCE. 613 

under his standard, and placed himself in open rebellion 
to the empire, with the avowed purpose of expelling the 
Manchoo dynasty and establishing that of Tai-Ping, or 
universal peace. It is not our object in this book to fol- 
low the various and wild fortunes of the rebels. The end, 
none, according to the means of human judgment, can see. 
But those who see in the singular circumstances of its 
origin and success so far, and in the leaven of good prin- 
ciples it carries, the finger of Providence, have no doubt 
as to the final result, and the advantages it is in time to 
bring to China and the world. Having made a triumph- 
ant progress and captured many imperial cities, with sev- 
eral million of inhabitants, in March, 1853, they got pos- 
session of Nankin. This was the imperial city under the 
Ming dynasty, and was now again made so by the insur- 
gents. At the time of its capture it was held by the 
hereditary garrison of Tartar banner-men, which, with 
their families, numbered twenty thousand. All these, 
men, women and children, were destroyed ; not more 
than one hundred escaping. 

The view which will be taken of this rebellion, will de- 
pend very much upon the political and ^rehgious tend- 
encies of those to whom it is submitted for judgment. 

The favorers of monarchical governments, and the oppo- 
nents of progress, are naturally disposed to censure and 
condemn any popular movement opposed to an existing 
government, and to put the worst construction upon all 
institutions favoring a popular element. The subjects of 
the Queen of England and of the Emperor of France, in 
China, are, by political prejudice, opposed to the rebel 
movement, but I doubt if their worst ideas of the Chi- 
nese rebellion are excelled by the opinions entertained by 
much of Europe, and proclaimed in its most respectable 
press, as to the disorganization, the irreligion, the fanati- 
cism, the ruffianism of the great American democracy. I 

22^^ 



514 ^ IN CHINA. 

have read in the most mfluential English journals as de- 
grading things said of us as can possibly be said of the 
Tai-Ping-Wang movement. 

It would at first be supposed that representatives of 
the great American democracy in China would entertain 
counter views. But it is not so. These gentlemen zeal- 
ously represent their country and their flag, and patriotic- 
ally stand forth in their defense, in all circumstances of 
rivalry and competition with other powders. But they do 
not sympathize with the masses of their own country. 
It would be very strange if they did. They early leave a 
classof society which is, in social position, something above 
the popular mass ; and they are not apt to appreciate the 
worth and political intelligence it contains, especially as 
they are here in contact with what they consider an infe- 
rior and degraded race. The tone of society, the social in- 
fluences among which they here reside, and to which they 
naturally conform, are given by Europeans, and are, of 
course, far removed from any popular considerations what- 
ever ; hence their views of a popular movement would 
coincide with the very men with whom they would quarrel 
upon an abstract question of political principle. 

In all the remote regions it has been my lot to visit, I 
have noticed much feeling of opposition of sentiment on 
the part both of the respectable merchants and the ad- 
venturers, who compose the American and European resi- 
dents, towards the missionary estabHshments — growing, 
with some, out of the opposition of the latter to the license 
and indulgence of the former, and to their interference 
with profitable vices. So far, therefore, as the Tai-Ping- 
Wang rebellion is supposed to have any connection with 
missionary influence, it comes under the disparagement of 
all under these adverse influences. 

Finally — as the rebels denounce opium-smoking, they 
fall under the condemnation of all wiio find profit in 



THE HEAVENLY PKINCE. 515 

opium-smuggling ; and this is the source of much of the 
European and American Chinese fortunes. 

With, therefore, almost all testimony against one, it 
seems very presumptuous to say any thing in favor of the 
rebels, and the more so, that I believe the body of them 
to be made up of wild, daring, adventurous scoundrels, 
and of fanatical blasphemers ; but there are good, honest, 
and intelligent men among them. I think the difference 
between them and the regular imperial government of 
China is, that the latter is an indurated system of routine, 
corruption and rascality, crystallized into form, from which 
no good can come, save by its destruction. The former, 
while tending to chaos and confusion, has within it the 
divine spark which shall light up the way of progress and 
civilization and the harmonious institutions of Christianity. 

The pure truths of Christianity themselves, among the 
most intellectual nations, and in the most enlightened 
ages, have been used to vitalize absurdity, fanaticism 
and blasphemy. How, then, can any such truth be ex- 
pected to be found unadulterated among a nation of hun- 
dreds of millions of arrogant pagans ? More especially, 
how can it be looked for in the wild scenes of political 
commotion in which races are warring against each other, 
and throughout so vast an empire ambitious and unscru- 
pulous chiefs are striving for the ascendency over an ig- 
norant and superstitious people ? 

For but a limited period the foreign teachers of Chris- 
tianity have been laboring at a few points on the re- 
motest edge of such a vast empire. If, then, when it is 
heaving in political convulsion, and threatening to shake 
down its age-fixed throne and institutions, one spark, 
however clouded, of Christian truth, is found in the move- 
ment of disorganization, I think it should be viewed as 
the leaven that is to leaven the whole lump, as at least a rea- 
son for hope that Providence is directing it to wise ends. 



516 , IN CHINA. 

There are, certainly, avowed principles in the following 
formula of the rebels, which must, at some time, separate 
the true from the false. 

Among the rebel articles of belief are : There is but 
one God. Idolatry and image-worship condemned. The 
Ten Commandments are enjoined, and the salvation of 
sinners by the death of Jesus proclaimed. Eternal dam- 
nation to the wicked, and salvation to the righteous. 
The influence of the Holy Sj)irit, and the doctrine of the 
Trinity are recognized. 

PEAYEK FOR THE PENITENT. 

I, thine unworthy — , kneeling down upon the 

ground, with a true heart repent of my sins, and pray 
thee, the great God, our heavenly Father, of thine infi- 
nite goodness and mercy, to forgive my former ignorance 
and frequent transgressions of the divine commands, and 
earnestly beseech thee of thy great favor to pardon all 
my former sins, and enable me to repent and lead a new 
life, so that my soul may ascend to heaven ; may I from 
henceforth sincerely repent and forsake my evil ways, not 
worshiping corrupt spirits, nor practicing perverse things, 
but obeying the divine commands. I also earnestly pray 
thee, the great God, our heavenly Father, constantly to be- 
stow on me thy Holy Spirit, and change my wicked heart ; 
never more allow me to be deceived by wicked demons, 
but perpetually regarding me with favor, forever deliver 
me from the evil one ; and every day bestowing upon 
me food and clothing, exempt me from calamity and woe, 
granting me tranquillity in the present world and the 
enjoyment of endless happiness in heaven, through the 
merits of our Saviour and heavenly brother, the Lord 
Jesus, who redeemed us from sin. I also pray the great 
God, our Father who is in heaven, that His will may be 
done on earth as it is done in heaven. That thou wouldst 



THE HEAVEN^LY P K I if C E . 517 

look down and grant this my request is my heart's sincere 
desire. 

Ten Important Bules to he olserved in a Regular Camp. 

1. Carefully to observe the celestial regulations. 

2. Make yourselves thoroughly acquainted with the 
commands of heaven, and the forms of worship, with 
praise and thanksgiving, to be used every morning and 
evening, as well as the orders issued by the sovereign. 

3. Cultivate good morals ; avoid the smoking of to- 
bacco and the drinking of wine ; be just and mild ; do 
not conceal offenses nor indulge partialities, nor comply 
with inferiors at the risk of disobeying superiors. 

4. With imited heart and effort obey the requisitions 
of officers ; do not conceal the number of military weap- 
ons, nor hide gold and silver ornaments. 

5. Observe the distinction between the camp of the 
males and that of the females ; let not men or women 
give or take from each other's hands. 

6. Make yourselves familiar with the signals given for 
the assembling of troops, by means of the gong, horn or 
drum, whether by day or night. 

7. Do not, without necessity, go from one camp or le- 
gion to another, lest you should throw into confusion pub- 
lic arrangements. 

8. Learn correctly the proper title of officers and the 
terms to be used in addressing them. 

9. Let your arms and accoutrements be always in or- 
der, and ready for immediate service. 

10. Do not falsify the laws of the state nor the regula- 
tions of the sovereign ; do not communicate the military 
signals or the regimental order. 

Shorter and better than our articles of war. 

The rebels can scarcely make things worse than they 
are. A writer, interested in maintaming the prestige of 
monarchical and despotic governments, while condemning 



518 ^ INCIIINA. 

the rebellion, says, "Yet that China needs reform in 
every shai^e, particularly in her government of the peo- 
ple, can not admit of a doubt. Her monarchical authority 
is trembling ; her executive is everywhere corrupt ; her 
army weak and imbecile, and her administrative boards 
throughout the country thoroughly rotten."* 



XXXVIII. 

COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 

" Commekce" is one of those kind of words which ap- 
pear in dinner-table sj)eeches and popular orations, as a 
sort of term which gives nobility to any kind of trash 
which may be uttered — and bold must the man be then 
who would for a moment thmk, or utter the sentiment, 
that Commerce might be a suspicious character, ought to 
be examined into. Commerce has gold in his pocket, and 
is above suspicion so long as he has it. He is truly a 
national benefactor, and it would not be expedient to in- 
quire whether sometimes he was a rascally fellow or not, 
for we mean to have his benefit whether he is resjpect- 
able or otherwise. Christianity sometimes comes in along 
with Commerce on these festive occasions, and Commerce 
knowing that Christianity stands pretty well in public 
opinion, is very willing, for form's sake, to have the asso- 
ciation for the time being. 

There must, however, be something radically wrong in 
one or the other of these interests and facts, for when 
they get out to China they become antagonistic, and it 
may not be altogether profitless to look at the matter and 
see which is to blame. 

* Edinburgh Review, October, 1858. 



COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 519 

In the early day the East India Company set its face 
against Christianity, and a clergyman writing upon this 
subject, in the commencement of this century, says, " All 
our governments of India have oj)posed the diflusion of 
the knowledge of Christianity among the natives." 

The earlier commercial organizations of China prohib- 
ited the settlement of missionaries wherever they had ju- 
risdiction. A writer in the Edinburgh Review, for 1857 
(April), and one who has a knowledge of China, has bold- 
ly promulgated the idea that all the United States and 
Great Britain have to do with China is "Commerce," 
and that it is a great mistake in any way to associate 
Christianity with it. This writer, it is true, thinks the 
opium trade as bad as Christianity, and opposes the pro- 
tection of either. 

" A colonial official of Hong Kong, in alluding to one ot 
the measures of policy adopted by the colony, says, ' It 
has already added to and tends to increase the coasting 
trade in goods, the manufactures of Great Britain or the 
produce of India, such as cotton, opium, etc. Here there 
is an unequivocal recognition, on the part of the British 
authorities, of the opium traffic. A certain measure is 
recommended, because conducive to its increase. Our 
government has endeavored to evade responsibility, and 
to place the opium traffic entirely to the account of pri- 
vate merchants, with whom our authorities allege they 
are not bound to interfere. But here we have our gov- 
ernment adopting measures avowedly calculated to en- 
courage and increase a traffic which contravenes the laws 
of a friendly power, with whom, at the time, we were at 
peace. Is there in this no provocation ?' " 

The worthy Bishop of Victoria, in a speech at Man- 
chester, England, on the subject of opium smuggling. 



"There was another reason why he wished to see a 



520 , INCHINA. 

termination to our national connection with opium smug- 
gling, for he belierecl not a few members of his flock, and 
personal friends in China, men of benevolent disposition 
and of the highest respectabiUty in the i^rivate intercourse 
of social life, were implicated in this system, against their 
better convictions, and were almost involuntary partici- 
pators in the contraband traffic. He desired to see a ter- 
mination to the temptation in the way of EngUsh mer- 
chants." 

It would certainly be well to remove the temptation from 
the way of Enghsh merchants, if not for their sakes, for 
that of the people they poison. True, the English mer- 
chant should not let his interest lead him into the sin. 
Let him give up the dollars and he gives up the crime. 
There may be English merchants wdio do so ; there are 
American houses w^hich do, and some which do not. 

Here then we have certainly a practical exemplification 
of " good for evil." We see Commerce repudiating Chris- 
tianity, and Christianity kindly mitigating the rascality 
of Commerce ; asking that temptation may be taken out 
of its way, that it may be more honest and upright. 

It may well be doubted whether the conscience that 
can accumulate money and build palaces upon the opium 
trade, has support enough of principle to resist any 
advantageous money transaction. It certainly owns no 
subjection to, or deference for, the laws of God or man. 
It's a terrible trade. Only a dim speck of the dark cloud 
has passed before my eyes, only the outer shore ripple of 
an ocean of wretchedness ; and God forbid I should ever 
see out on its broad surface. 

Let us hearken a moment to those murmurings of 
agony which do reach us. 

An old Chmese resident dining with me fixed his eyes 
intently upon the very intelligent boy who was waiting 
at my table, and as soon as the boy left the room he 



COMMEECE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 521 

remarked earnestly, " That boy is an opium smoker !" " I 
fear it." " You must, of course, get rid of him, you 
do n't know how to trust him a moment ; he'll rob you, 
sooner or later." 

The boy spoke very good English, and only a few days 
before this I had talked to him upon the subject. He 
denied it out and out, and bursting into tears, said he 
had^oo unhappy a warning in his father, who died of 
opium smoking at an early age. And yet this boy did 
smoke opium nightly ; he ended by thieving and running 
away. His intelligence, his acquaintance with Enghsh 
and accounts, would have made him valuable, and always 
have secured him good employment. As another illus- 
tration coming under my own knowledge, a respectable 
Chinese mechanic came to me several times, or rather 
incidentally, in conversation upon other subjects, asked 
me for some remedy for opium smoking, for a friend of 
his. His friend had tried all the Chinese remedies in 
vain. I suspected, from his emaciated and haggard ap- 
pearance, that he was himself the victim. I told him I 
could give him no remedy, and finally he came to me in 
the greatest distress, said he was the man, and must have 
some medicine to cure him, as, to use his homely but 
expressive language, " his wife made such a bobbery he 
could not live." I could do nothing for him, and have 
not seen him since. 

From Singapore to Shanghae I have been in those 
wretched dens, the opium shops— I doubt if the opium 
merchants have been or dare go — and shall never forget 
the scenes presented to me. 

I will present only an illustration or two, but as these 
shops were so numerous, just as groggeries in our own 
degraded city localities, my lifting a single curtain affords 
a view of the broad extent of the vice. 

You lift the dark and dirty blue curtain which swings 



522 9 IN CHINA. 

at the door, and enter a gloomy, dingy room, along 
which are soiled mat-covered couches. On these couches 
are lying the victims, often two on a couch, with the 
smoky opium lamp between them. The black mass, like 
a paste, is dipped by a wire from its receptacle and pushed 
into the narrow tube of the pipe. This is now held over 
the lamp ; it fumes and bubbles while the smoker draws 
two or three inhalations, passes his hand over his ||jow, 
and gazes intently upon some ecstatic vision in tht3 dim 
air, often at the same time spreading his lips to a smile as 
ghastly as his gaze — the gaze and smile of a skeleton. The 
eyes are deep sunk in their sockets — the skin drawn 
tightly over the cheek bones, and the ribs stand out in 
bony curves. Emaciation in an old opium smoker seems 
to have reached the extreme tenuity compatible with 
existence. Such are the shop scenes. Shall we take 
them as the interpreters of unseen domestic woes — a daily 
path of horror which often ends in selling wife and 
daughter for the drug? Most of the opium smokers I 
saw in the shops, were in the physical condition I have 
attempted to describe, but upon one occasion I saw two 
youths, not over eighteen years of age, genteely dressed, 
and whose cheeks and forms had not lost the rotundity 
of their time of life. These, with hope and life before 
them, voluntarily entering a road of certain destruction, 
were a more melancholy spectacle than those who were at 
the close of their unhappy career. 

In these dens we only saw the opium smoking of the 
lowest classes. The upper classes have their private 
smoking apartments and luxurious couches. There were 
few of the respectable tradesmen, artists, etc., with whom 
I had dealings in their houses, but had some one or more 
members of their establishment addicted to this terrible 
vice, the faint, sickening odor of the drug pervading the 
atmosphere of their houses; and often in a partitioned 



COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 523 

cell of some dark corner, the glimmer of an opium lamp 
just served to show the recumbent form of the victim 
beside it. Such, however, is the benumbing influence of 
the vice, that its essential nature— the question as to 
whether opium smoking is a vice or a virtue — in the 
reasonings of Chinese foreign commerce, seems to depend 
upon the extent to which it prevails. The advocates of 
the innocuous nature of opium smoking— who would almost 
elevate it to the rank of a virtue— contend that the 
largest number addicted to it is from two to three millions. 
Dr. Hobson, a medical missionary then at Canton, 
makes the following estimate : 

" Allowing the consumption of 68,000 chests, at one 
mace a day (one mace is equal to fifty-eight grains), it 
will not exceed 2,500,000. Many take less than one mace 
a day, but others, again, consume two, four, six, and even 
eight mace a day (the latter quantity being equal to three 
hundred grains of the present opium). Native opium, 
obtained principally from the province of Yun-nan, in the 
south of China, is also used, and must add to the 2,500,000 
named above." 

As to the mortality arising from its use, the conclusions 
Dr. Hobson arrives at are as follows : 

" 1. That the mortality from opium is not so great as 
is generally supposed, and certainly not at the enormous 
rate of 1,000,000 a year, even supposing that 20,000,000 
took it. He could not give the proportion of deaths, 
because there are no data or statistics on which to make 
the calculation. 

" 2. That opium is probably more seductive and tena- 
cious in its grasp than alcohol ; and he should certainly 
affirm that it was not so frequently fatal to life, nor so 
fruitful of disease and crime, as is the case with intoxicat- 
ing drink in Great Britain." 

Again, a Mr. Lay, who was at one time an agent of the 



624 ^ I N C II I N A . 

British and Foreign Bible Society, says, in regard to 
opium : 

" In China, the spendthrift, the man of lewd habits, the 
drunkard, and a large assortment of bad characters, slide 
into the opium smoker; hence the drug seems to be 
chargeable with all the vices of the country. Opium, 
doubtless, has her victims in persons who, but for her fas- 
cinating lures, might have escaped their ruin ; but, in the 
great majority of instances, she only adds one stain more 
to a character already polluted. Investigations and some 
statistics may throw light upon the subject, and show, in 
some measure, how far the use of the drug has been the 
principal, and not the accompHce only, in the undoing of 
individuals. Many use it ' in moderation^'' and are suffi- 
ciently masters of themselves to keep on the right side of 
slavery. But it is a subtle and traitorous inmate, and no 
one who has ever felt the exhilarating eifects of it, is sure 
that he will not one day fall a prey to its delusions." 

Speaking of the degraded appearance of a confirmed 
opium smoker, he says : 

" Such sights, however, are not very common, for the 
miserable beings generally hide themselves from public 
view, so that, amidst many thousands of healthy and 
happy faces, loe only see here and there one of these prod- 
igies of evil habit." 

Quoting the above, a newspaper exponent, of opium 
tone, in China, defends opium upon the ground that there 
may be worse vices, and reaches the conclusion that it is 
a necessity : 

" Ten dollars a piece from two and a half millions will 
pay for about all the opium imported into China in a year. 
How many are there in the countries of the heaviest of 
the opium denouncers, who spend their ten dollars a 
week in that ten times worse than opium smoking — dram 
drinking. Such is the sluggish nature of their fo£»d, that. 



COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 525 

with many Chinese, opium is a necessity to stimulate 
digestion."* 

All that seems to be positively known is, that opium 
smoking is a great evil, and an extending one, ruinous to 
the happiness and morals of a population, only small be- 
cause measured by that of nearly a half of the population 
of the globe. It is equally evident that it is a profitable 
commercial vice, and hence an honorable one. It keeps 
up lines of expensive private steamers between India and 
China, supported by the difference of rise and fall in 
023ium from day to day. It is not only a vice from its 
material, physical and moral effects upon the human frame, 
but it is a great gambling excitement. Opium commerce 
is but betting upon the change of price with each arrival 
from India, the chests never changing hands. 

The importation of opium into China is but one element 
by which to measure the amount of it consumed. ISTo 
one knows the extent of domestic cultivation. Most of 
the palatial English, American, and Parsee houses belong- 
ing to the same firms, in the five consular ports, are built 
upon this trade. ^No amount of percentage upon the 
regular silk and tea brokerage they profess to do, could 
keep up these magnificent establishments, and retire, as 
they do, a partner every three or four years, vdth an in- 
dependent fortune. They all have, in defiance of Chinese 
law, their smuggling receiving ships, most of them, it is 
some consolation to know, under any flag but the Amer- 
ican, but I am sorry to say, it flies over an opium receiving 
ship of our countrymen in China, although the owners, 
individually, are entitled to all the commendation be- 
stowed by his lordship the Bishop of Victoria, upon his 
own respectable flock. Yet, the United States treaty 

* As this writer contends for the small number of Chinese who use 
opium, what becomes of his argument of necessity for tlie hundreds of 
millions who get along with their digestion without opium ? 



526 , INCHINA. 

with China says our flag shall have no connection with 
this traffic. 

One curious argument of the friends of opium is, " It is 
no use for us to be so virtuous upon this subject, as the 
Chinese authorities themselves are so loose.-' The result 
of such reasoning in morals any one may estimate, if car- 
ried out in all the relations of life. I suspect tliat moral- 
ity and religion in the Chinese trade are regarded, as 
Wellington is reported to have said of them in military life, 
very much out of place. Havelock and others have dis- 
proved the old chieftain's maxim, and there is hope for 
eastern commerce. 

The fact is, the Chinese must wink instead of kick at 
the violation of their laws, if, according to the practical 
maxim of St. Paul, it is hard to kick against the pricks. 

"On the 23d of August, 1844, Mr. Davis transmitted 
to Aberdeen another communication from the imperial 
commissioner, in which he declared his fear of the conse- 
quence to himself, should he propose to the emperor any 
measure involving the legalization of opium, and plainly 
intimating that the opium trade should be carried on by 
mutual connivance."* 

Suppose for a moment the Chinese were to capture all 
those opium ships lying under European and American 
flags, in the Woosung and Canton rivers, what would be 
the result ? History has already answered that question. 

The Earl of Shaftesbury presented to the British author- 
ities a memorial upon the Chinese import of opium, which 
contains the following charges : 

" 1st. That the opium trade on the coast of China is, 
with scarce an exception, carried on under English colors 
and by British subjects. 2dly. That it is attended with 
a more appalling mortaUty than in the case of the slave ' 

* Papers relative to the opium trade in China, presented to the 
House of Lords. 



COMMEECE, CHRISTIANITY AND OPIUM. 52 Y 

trade. 3dly. That it is dishonoring to God and to the 
character of our nation. 4thly, That it is prejudicial to 
the commercial interests of ^ Great Britain. And 5thly. 
That frightfully aggravated results must follow the great 
and somewhat recent extension of that traffic, together 
with the fact that her Majesty's plenipotentiary in China, 
only a short time since, induced the King of Siam to ad- 
mit opium to be imported by British subjects into that 
country free of duty." 

In reply to these charges it was answered : 
" With respect to the last of these points. Sir J. Bow- 
ring stated that so far from having induced the King of 
Siam to admit the importation of opium free of duty, he 
stipulated for the exclusion of opium from the general 
operation of the free-trade system which his treaty estab- 
lished. British subjects are not allowed to import oj^ium 
into Siam freQ of duty^ the importation being placed 
under separate and severe restrictions by confining its in- 
troduction and sale to the Chinese farmers of the opium 
revenue. ... It was a matter of gei\eral notoriety 
that many of the principal American houses dealt largely 
in opium, and that the flag of the United States was un- 
furled at the opium stations over American ships with 
American registers. . . . As to the religious bear- 
ings of the opium question, and the paralyzation of mis- 
sionary efforts consequent upon the trade, Sir John Bow- 
ring's opinion was, that the small success of missionary 
efforts in China was traceable to other causes than the 
opium trade." 

The opinions of Sir John Bo wring upon that or any 
other subject are entitled to the respect due his ability 
and opportunities of observation, and at the same time 
are to be taken with that grain of allowance which must 
be made for all men who are interested in the matter 
submitted to their judgment. It must be remembered 



528 . IN CHIN A. 

that Sir John is the governor of an opium-founded, opium- 
breathing, and opium-supported colony. The deadening, 
benumbing, sensual influence of the drug seems to have 
pervaded the moral atmosphere, and brought it to such a 
condition that nurtures expedient vices as the substitute 
for virtuous principles, as is seen in a recent ordinance 
of the colony legitimating licentiousness as an appropriate 
means of revenue. 

" A new ordinance — the last specimen of legislation 
which we have been favored with — certainly caps all for- 
mer attempts. The plain English of it is, that it is an ordi- 
nance for obtaining an increase of the colonial revenue 
by encouraging and protecting prostitution." — Overland 
Beglster^ December 16, 1857. 

Irresj^ective of its morality, of its infringement of the 
laws of China, its respectability must bear up the crime 
of smuggling to that level. " There is no article in the 
treaty with China prohibiting the importation of opium, 
or making its introduction an offense under British law. 
In the absence of any interdiction in the treaty, opium 
stands among the articles unenumerated in the tariff, on 
which articles a duty of five per cent, is leviable ; that five 
per cent., under any circumstances, is due to the Chinese 
trea^ry, and inasmuch as this duty is not paid, there is a 
clear infraction of the treaty."* 

The general commercial sentiment in China seems to 
be, not to get rid of the vice, but, as in the case of li- 
centiousness, to legitimate and make it profitable. The 
honorable, philanthropic, just and Christian sentiment is, 
to aid the effort of the Chinese authorities to suppress the 
vice and to punish the opium smuggler, as the law does 
the poor wretch who by night steals brandy and tobacco 

* Papers relating to the opium trade in Cliina, presented to the House 
of Lords. 



GETTII^G ON. 529 

into England. But in China commerce and opium are 
supreme, and have their diseased, elephant-legged foot 
upon Christianity. 



XXXIX. 

GETTINa ON 



" That's the way we get on, you know," said Captain 
Forsyth, of her Majesty's ship Hornet, to me, as I met 
him on the Bund in Shanghae, just as we heard of the 
English troubles in Canton. " I am very anxious to be 
there, because that 's the way we get on." 

And I am very glad to say he was there, and did get 
on, for most eminently had he earned and deserved it. 

" The Gazette promotions for late affairs in China will 
be hailed by the service with unanimous approbation, and 
the Board of Admiralty will gain no small share of com- 
mendation for their speedy acknowledgment of the dis- 
tinguished services rendered by Captains Forsyth, Cor- 
bett, Holland, Turnour, etc. This reward, following so 
quickly upon an official report of services that deserve it, 
is trebly welcome to the reciiDients, whilst it offers a spur 
to emulation that is of incalculable value to the country. 

" In the selection for these promotions Captain Forsyth's 
name stands most fairly at the head of the Ust, not only 
on account of his seniority, but in consideration of his re- 
peated acts of daring gallantry. Of his services in former 
grades our columns have given frequent notices. He 
earned his lieutenant's rank by hard work at marine sur- 
veying, and he won his commander's commission by most 
important services in the same branch, and by his able, 
zealous, and skillful arrangements in supplying the Brit- 
ish army with provisions during the Kaffir war. We may 

23 



530 IN CHINA. 

add tliat Captain Forsyth is a child of the service, and 
not an officer of interest. He has achieved his position 
solely by distinguished merit, the appreciation of which 
by the Board of Admiralty reflects credit on their lord- 
ships. 

" Captain Corbett, of the Inflexible (6), steam sloop, 
has made short steps to that promotion which he richly 
deserved, had he not had an opportunity of again distin- 
guishing himself. It is sufficient to say of him that he is 
the officer who performed one of the coolest acts of dar- 
ing on record as a lieutenant. He was at the bloody fight 
at Lagos, under Admiral Bruce ; and it was he who volun- 
teered, under the most deadly fire, to unshackle the cable 
of the Teazer, we believe, and thus save those on board 
from severe sufiering. He succeeded, but escaped almost 
certain destruction, with four or five musket-balls in his 
body and a broken arm. This deed of daring gave him 
his commandership and a pension for wounds. For hu 
new claims upon the country he has received the most 
gratifying installment by advancement to that senior rank 
in which we trust he will have further opportunities of 
showing to the world that the young blood of the navy is 
not inferior to that of the heroes of old."* 

And thus, during our whole year in China, from the 
time of our own short, sharp, decisive actions, to the 
capture by the English of Canton, we had the gratifica- 
tion of seeing our English friends " made," after the in- 
telligence of these deeds reached home. Promotion to 
higher rank — promotion which carried some home, and 
gave their places to rejoicing new men, was a cheering, 
hopeful promotion ; and not as with us a desponding look 
upon the coffins of our friends and companions. N^o mat- 
ter though the whole British nation was in division as to 

* London Morning Herald, IStli August, 1851. 



GETTING ON. 531 

whether the Chinese war was a just one, those who were 
maintaming the honor of then* flag had the impulse of 
direct, personal, individual hope to cheer them on. 

Chinese shot killed those it hit as dead as though they 
had been fired by Russian or Frenchman, and therefore 
those who ran the risk were entitled to their reward. 

What a contrast with the expectation and hopes of the 
officers of our own squadron ! In boats and ships we had 
been fired upon to death by Chinese forts, and had vindi- 
cated the honor of our flag, and yet avoided a continuous 
war. Although no other honorable or creditable course 
of duty was open to us, yet the first feeling was that of 
uncertainty as to whether the action of the squadron 
would be approved or disapproved. If the latter, the 
consolation was in the consciousness of having done a 
duty which could not be left undone ; if the former, the 
best hope was that of a formal official a^pproval, which 
came, was read, listened to, buried amid the records of 
the squadron and Department, and brought advantage to 
none. 

It has been said that a Frenchman's motive of action is 
glory ; an EngHshman's, duty. The American must be 
yet further removed above the inferior impulses of hu- 
manity, and expected to do his best deeds under the 
chance of censure, and without the hope of reward. 

Whatever may be the national characteristics in this 
respect, it would be only very human, though perhaps 
not angelic, that individual, as well as national glory, 
should be an incentive in the military service of any race. 
The abiding, enduring spirit, may be that of duty ; the 
active, enthusiastic, " go in and win" spirit, must be that 
of glory, and if we are to have a military service, with all 
the incentives to active efficiency, it would seem to be 
only reasonable to present it with those which human na- 
ture acknowledges. 



532 IN CTIINA. 

There are, it must be admitted, difficulties about tbe 
subject, as military reputations are sometimes, like pat- 
ent medicines and slop-shop clothing, made prominent by 
quackery. Still, it does not appear impossible to devise 
a system by which those who clearly and definitely risk 
their lives in battles or exploits of unusual hazard, under 
orders to do so, shall win some special conmendation or 
reward independent of political influences, or the approval 
or disapproval by an existing administration of the orders 
under which they acted. I think it can be done. " A 
navy reputation is at best but a four years' reputation," 
sententiously said one of those who suffered by the decis- 
ions of the Retiring Board. This man remembered the 
days of his youth, when he felt impulses to have a good 
name with the Department, and thought he was laying up 
a capital of that kind. But he lived long enough to find 
there is no cumulative reputation. A young officer, when 
he first wins favor at the Department by meritorious deeds 
is stimulated to go on and increase his stock of reputation, 
but he becomes disheartened when he finds that every 
four years he must be successfully interpreting new dreams 
for new Pharaohs, and at last depends for the smallest 
rights upon court intrigues, and the good will of the chiei 
butlers. The older he gets, and the less disposed to sit 
at the chief butler's table, the less consideration he meets. 
The distinguished gentlemen who are called to the hon- 
orable position of presiding over the Navy Department and 
the Navy, have a responsible, arduous and intricate charge. 
They have not only the control of governmental posses- 
sions and interests, but of an organized body of men — a 
state within itself — with its own internal usages and pol- 
ity, and dissentient politics. Among these he is called to 
bo lawgiver and judge, and is so circumstanced that he 
can not hear the voice of the Navy but as it is interpreted 
by few and interested parties. Princij)les lie latent and 



GETTING ON. 633 

dormant around him, as they do in nature around all of 
us, but only the instructed art of the scientific hand can 
develop them into vitality and activity ; and a life-time is 
necessary to acquire the art. Hence arises a discourag- 
ing supposition — perphaps a necessity, that the rights, in- 
terests, fortunes of the members of the naval body, are 
much at the control of the subordinate and more perma- 
nent residents of the Department. 

An estimable friend and distinguished naval captain, 
whose merits and position should have secured him every 
right, once said to me, " I am entitled to so and so, and 
want it ; I have never gone below the head of the Depart- 
ment for any claim ; shall I do so now ?" 

" In my opinion, certainly not ; rather go without it." 

In the absence of any fixed system of duties and com- 
pensations, the action of the Department must necessarily 
be variable. One Secretary of the N'avy, taking a large 
and liberal view of the law under which the Navy is paid, 
and considering that all pecuniary gain is limited by that 
law, will make allowances to the extent of legal author- 
ity ; another, influenced by principles of rigid economy, 
will restrict all compensation to the narrowest limit which 
the law will permit. The small amount which can be 
saved to the government by any restrictions, annoying as 
it is to individuals, would be more cheerfully submitted 
to if it was not contrasted with the large amounts which 
are sometimes taken out of the Treasury for the advantage 
of a few fortunate individuals, and which extravagances 
the executive can not control. 

In these unsettled conditions and uncertain competi- 
tions, a large amount of energy is lost to the government 
in the time and efforts expended in the protection and 
maintenance of what are thought rights — energies and 
abilities which might otherwise be ex|)ended in the per- 
formance of duties. 



534 IN CHINA. 

Even promotion by seniority has now become a palsy- 
ing influence ; the flow from behind is greater than the 
outlet, and the current, instead of being onward, I'^sts in a 
pool of stagnation. 

A sudden and rugged opening was recently made, and 
a temporary rush took place, bearing onward a crowd of 
fresh branches, yet in their verdure, and tearing np some 
of the old trunks which had long stood upon the bank, and 
overshadowed the waters of the stream. But the waters 
now stand again, a dead sea, and its influence reaches yet 
further back than before. Many of these young branches 
Know that^ they have brought up on their final resting- 
place, and must wither without further progress ; but they 
may rest. 

In my own corps things are worse. When the law 
shut down and limited the number of ofiicers in each 
corps, the surgeons were sixty-nine in number, acciden- 
tally, I believe, there being an unfilled vacancy at the 
time. All these are supposed to be on the active list. In 
the meantime duties, ships and stations have increased. 
There are seventy-six captains, and one hundred and six 
commanders on the active list ; and whenever a captain 
or commander is wanting for duty, with but few excep- 
tions, a surgeon is also required. Hence the chances for 
rest in the stafl" and line are very unequal. But besides 
these captains and commanders on the active list, there 
are, of both grades, forty-five on the reserved list ; but of 
the small number of surgeons, none are reserved, although 
some have been in the service forty years and over, and 
nearly one fourth of the whole number are unfit for duty. 
Now it would seem that the most simple and practical 
mode of relief, both for line and stafiT, after the staff has 
been brought up to fair numbers, would be a limit of 
age, up to which, an officer should have done his full share 
of duty in every grade to which he is eligible, and what- 



GETTING ON. 535 

ever fortunate exceptions there may be, " by reason of 
strength." I have never seen the man over fifty years of 
age who was fit for ship-board Hfe, especially for herding 
in mixed and forced association. His mental and physi- 
cal faculties may be good, but he has lost the plasticity of 
adaptation and the buoyancy which float him over annoy- 
ances, or bear him onward to meet and overcome them. 
He fits the night-cap better than the cocked hat. To 
my friends and associates of the San Jacinto, there is left, 
to the only one older than myself, the commander-in-chief, 
rest, if he desires it in the honors of duties fulfilled ; to the 
others, some sHght hope of advancement to a certain de- 
gree ; to myself, time-worn and weary, the same corduroy 
road which I have trod for twenty years (when I reached 
my present grade), through the plain of necessity, but more 
rugged and uneven from wear and neglect ; and my case 
is that of all my brethren. 

If any reader has had the perseverance to follow me thus 
far in my wanderings, he will see that at the close of 1857, 
and at the time of the capture of Canton, we had been 
two years and two months away from the United States. 

When we left there a cheery idea drifted among us 
that our cruise was, at the extent, to be only two years 
from home. In the meantime the powers under which we 
left home had given place to new men whose purposes we 
could not divine. But some new encouragement was 
given to the hopeful prospect of a shortened exile. Stay 
as long as we might, we did but do an accepted duty and 
had no right to complain ; but a duty under a kind and 
considerate master is more cheerily and more efiiciently 
done than if performed under an exacting task-master. 
We had now been on the station over two years, and were 
then at least a quarter of a year's time and distance from 
home. Still there was no relief — disgust and despond- 
ency settled upon us as a cloud. 



536 IN CHINA. 

After the close of our war, the commander-in-chief, 
broken in health, made application for relief in his flag 
ship, stating that his health would permit no arduous over 
land jouraey. In the beginning of 1858, he was informed 
that he would be reheved by Flag-officer Josiah Tattnall, 
and might return to his home by the overland route. It 
was a hard journey for an old and disease-enfeebled man. 
Some thought it scarcely compensated for by the high en- 
comiums two administrations had awarded him. 

That of President Pierce had written him by the then 
head of the Navy Department, Mr. Dobbin : 

" I approve, therefore, of the course pursued by you 
and those under your command. The brave and ener- 
getic manner in which the wrong was avenged, is worthy 
of all praise; the gallantry, good order and 'intelligent 
subordination' displayed by all engaged in the various 
conflicts with the enemy; the precision and admirable 
success with which the guns were managed, were highly 
creditable to the service. Be pleased, sir, to communi- 
cate to the officers, seamen, and marines, the Department's 
very high appreciation of their good conduct." 

And the following appears in the report of the honor- 
able Secretary of the Navy, now presiding in that Depart- 
ment. Alluding to the East India squadron, he says : 

"The duties of this squadron have been arduous, and the 
officers and men attached to it distinguished themselves 
upon a memorable occasion. On the 15th of November, 
1856, as one of the boats belonging to the squadron was 
passing up the river to Canton, with the American flag 
fully displayed, it was several times fired upon by the 
Barrier forts, endangering the lives of all on board.* This 
outrage was promptly resisted and redressed, by the cap- 
cure and destruction of the forts and razing the walls to 

* Xt may be added to this that another boat was fired upon and a 
man's bead carried off. 



GETTING ON. 537 

the ground. These forts, four in number, commanding 
the approach to Canton, were among the strongest de- 
fenses of the empire, mounting one hundred and seventy- 
six guns. The prompt and decisive course pursued by 
Commodore Armstrong, his officers and men, has caused 
the flag of the United States to be respected by the Chi- 
nese, contributed largely to the security of our citizens 
in China, and, during the trouble which followed, has 
probably been the means of saving many lives and much 
property." 

The sloop-of-war Levant, which sailed after the San 
Jacinto, had already been relieved and started for home, 
and the Portsmouth, which sailed months after the San 
Jacinto, followed the Levant in a few weeks ; but the San 
Jacinto remained, with the cloud thickening about her. 
There were undoubtedly good reasons at Washington for 
these proceedings, but it was the misfortune of the ten- 
ants of the San Jacinto not to see them. The apathy of 
"hope deferred" settled upon the ship. It may be thought 
that the increase of one fourth pay, paid to men who are 
detained over their time of enlistment, is a compensation 
for that detention. Such is not the case. The sailor, as 
every other man, likes to have a word to say in the dis- 
position of his rights and property, and not to have it 
taken from him at the arbitrary estimate of one party to 
the contract. He would rather have his discharge than 
pay for detention. He ships for three years fi'om the 
time he signs his name, and although it is stipulated that 
if detained he shall be paid an additional rate, he looks 
upon that as a chance contingency ; whereas the tail has 
been swallowing the body, the contingency becoming the 
whole law. 

Officers have, of course, no rights of this kind, but 
must rest entirely upon the demands of service, and the 
justice and liberality of the Department. 

23* 



538 IN CHINA. 

The'time now draws near for taking leave of the ship 
and station. The next overland mail was to leave Hong 
Kong on the 29th of January, 1858. Just before we 
started, an English naval captain said to me, " What a 
quiet set of men you have in your squadron." I was 
happy to reply, " A quiet, contented and subordinate set 
of men." The Commodore and Secretary of the Navy 
had complimented them upon their intelligent subordi- 
nation." 

The remark of the English captain reminded me of a 
duty I owed the men of the squadron from which I was 
about to part — ^the humble tribute of my testimony as to 
its character, and through that to the workings of the 
new system under which the Navy is governed, and which 
must be carried far higher and much wider before our 
service is properly regulated or governed, for governed 
by any thing but principle it never will be, and beneath 
principle all mere selfish, egotistical tyranny must fall. 
Not coming under this harsh designation, but as a part 
of the childish tom-foolery by which the relations of men 
are caricatured and their manly self-respect lowered, is 
what is called officers " getting permission from the first 
lieutenant to leave the ship." When this permission 
has a practical value, among the crew and youth, may be 
granted or denied, it is all right and proper enough ; but 
it is absurd when men, lieutenants themselves, the asso- 
ciates, companions and mess-mates of the first lieuten- 
ant, all of the same grade, and other officers his seniors in 
years, and sometimes of higher rank, go like school-boys 
and say, " May I go out ?" The officers who ask the 
permission are themselves the best, and sometimes the 
only judges as to whether their duties will permit them 
to leave the ship, and knowing this, the gentleman acting 
as first lieutenant never takes the responsibility of refus- 
ing. Some officers of true dignity of character feel the 



GETTII^G ON. 539 

absurdity of tMs usage, and dispense with it in those 
cases in which it has no practical bearing ; others are so 
much wanting in self-respect, and need so much support 
for their own opinion of themselves, as to receive it as 
a tribute to personal superiority, and reply, " Yes," or 
"Certainly, sir," with as much self-complacency as though 
they really were conferring a privilege. The reason al- 
leged for continuing this usage is, that the first lieuten- 
ant knows when the ship is going to be in those circum- 
stances which will admit of officers leaving her. He may 
or may not. But this reason has no existence when, as 
is generally done, the time in which the privilege of leav- 
ing a ship, when it will commence and when it will close, 
is announced, be it so many hours, days or weeks. The 
other lieutenants, and the staff-officers of a ship, are as 
trustworthy in the use of this privilege as their associate, 
who happens to be first lieutenant, is, and are more un- 
der responsibility and obligation when the privilege is 
used at their discretion, than by a formal permission. 

Even the British service, if I am correctly informed, 
has made a progress, in the disuse of this nonsense, ahead 
of ours, it being the custom in some ships, at the discre- 
tion, I suppose, of some sensible commanding officer, to 
have a slate at the gangway, at such times as the ship 
can be left, upon which the officer going ashore registers 
his name, erasing it upon his return. 

The old man loves the memory of even the annoyances 
of his youth, associated as they are with a hopeful and 
joyous period of his life. The " good old times" never 
are the present, and much of the trembling-toned lament 
over the "old discipline" of the service, must be put 
down to this lingering look-back of age upon its past 
youth. There may be some, who having had the rough 
hand of despotism upon them, think they are not even 
with the world until they too put it upon some one else ; 



540 , INCHINA. 

and these are apt to decry the new system because it will 
not make tyranny a virtue. 

What were the results of that " old discipline ?" Some 
may say, *' Our naval victories." They were associated 
with it, but I trust had their basis in a solid foundation 
of national courage, and were won despite of the " old 
discipline," which drove many a brave man from the na- 
tional colors. In my service, of a generation's existence, 
I have done duty in one navy yard, cruised in one twelve- 
gun schooner, four corvettes, three steamers and two ii*ig- 
ates. But those who object to my testimony, may say I 
am not an expert, not being an officer of the line. In all 
this time and service, I have lived under miUtary author- 
ity, and exercised it, and have faithfully listened, on the 
first Sunday of every month, when in a sea-going ship, 
with uncovered head, to the solemn absurdities of the 
" articles of war." Under the " old discipline" the cry 
of " all hands to witness punishment," called us from any 
hour of the day-light day, to leave our rooms, avocations 
and studies, buckle on our swords, and assemble on deck 
to see some " man" stripped and flogged with cats until 
the blood burst from his livid back, while the crash of the 
colt was the before-breakfast settling up of the night's 
offenses. 

During these times, men never went ashore but in 
charge of and watched by officers of boats — never trusted 
to their self-respect. Consequently drunken boats' crews 
and desertion were constant. On liberty, our crews were 
the terror of the cities in which they held their orgies and 
revels ; on board ship, bottles, belaying pins and shot have 
been hurled at officers as they passed along the decks in 
the dark. Whole ships' comjoanies have mutinied, and 
tricing up the ladders from one deck to another, cut off 
all approach of their officers until their grievances were 
redressed. 



GETTING ON. 541 

The heart and soul of the " old discipline" passed away 
with the " cats." A more cheery and genial atmosphere 
pervaded our men-of-war. It has influenced not only the 
government of the crew, but also that of the officers, just 
as a bad or good spirit will visit itself upon others than 
those who call it forth. The drum-head court-martial sys- 
tem died out early in our ship for want of material to 
constitute the courts. There were, it is true, the chief 
engineer, at the head of a large corps, the purser, who 
had been over ten years in the service, and myself, who 
had been in it more than half my life ; but we were not 
eligible to courts martial as members — not even to be 
represented on them in cases in which we were ourselves 
parties, and the question one of principle, upon which 
those composing the court are committed by prejudice 
and interest against us. Just as though a jury of violent 
partisans were to decide the case of one whose principal 
offense had been opposition to them. Not because we 
are wanting in honor, judgment, familiarity with the laws 
and usages under which we live, and an equal respect 
with our brother officers for the obhgation of an oath ; not 
because of these are we excluded from the commonest 
principles of justice and the benefit of the maxim that 
every man should be tried by his peers. But because in 
those days when ignorance was the pride of the soldier, 
and armed chiefs, ignorant of penmanship and orthog- 
raphy, signed their names by pressing their ink-stained 
hands upon the parchment — then, when merchants, scribes, 
lawyers, mechanics and publicans, as well as doctors, were 
not permitted to sit upon courts alongside of these same 
mailed bandit chiefs ; because of this usage of that re- 
spectable age, are we, in the middle of the nineteenth 
century, and in a republic made up of these same me- 
chanics, farmers, scribes and publicans, and in a service 
composed of the sons, brothers and fathers of these use- 



542 ^ INCHINA. 

ful members of the community, excluded from representa- 
tion on the juries before which we are an equal party 
with those who do sit as both judges and jurors. So once 
said Attorney General Berrien : " If we look to the origin 
of courts martial in England (from whence we borrow 
them) it would be difficult to believe that a tribunal 
w^hich has succeeded there to the ancient court of chiv- 
alry could be composed of other than military men." 

That opinion, it is true, was given thirty years ago. 
Since then the world has made some progress, and the 
courts of these vulgar United States may be made better 
than courts of chivalry — courts of justice despite all pre- 
cedents, even were it j^ossible to show that any who live 
under and are amenable to military law are not mili- 
tary men. 

Whilst our service has been holding on to the old Lion's 
tail, and being dragged through weed-grown bogs of old 
usage, he has taken a sudden leap over the ditch of selfish 
and stupid illiberality, as regards medical officers, and left 
us plump in it. 

The queen, by a recent warrant, has divided medical 
array officers into seven grades of rank, as lieutenants, 
captains, majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels, brigadier 
generals and major generals ; and the warrant further 
provides that such relative rank shall carry with it all pre- 
cedents and advantages attaching to such rank with which 
it corresponds, except presidents of courts martial. 

Commanding officers of a regiment or detachment, 
though junior in rank to medical officers, shall always be 
entitled to first choice of quarters. Medical officers are 
to be entitled to the same honors as those of equal rank, 
except guards. Pay and extra allowances are largely 
increased. All medical officers retire upon a liberal pay 
at fifty-five years of age, except deputy inspectors and in- 
spectors ; these retire at sixty-five. 



GETTING ON. 543 

So it ai3pears that medical officers are members of those 
courts of honor, even in that England from which, accord- 
ing to Judge Berrien, we borrowed them. 

But the courts having died out, the external display ot 
any visible controlling authority — any thing dramatic, like 
public executions, were never seen in the San Jacinto. 
There were quiet punishments, but they were all within 
the competency of the executive power of the ship, and 
yet I doubt if a more efficient, subordinate, well-disposed 
and happy crew, barring the protracted cruise, have ever 
been in a public vessel ; and this is not only my own testi- 
mony now, but the frequent conversational tribute of the 
officers of the line who were in constant contact with the 
men ; and both Sir John Bowring and Admiral Seymour 
expressed their admiration of the deportment of our ship's 
companies during the provisional occupation of Canton. It 
was all very natural. The " Damn your eyes, tie him up 
and flog him" system of the " old discipline" being done 
away with, much of the devil went out of the ship, fore 
and aft, with his traps and baggage, and gave place to 
agencies of a higher relation. Much, however, is to be 
attributed to the humane and just character of the com- 
manding officer, Captain Bell. 

Officers became more conciliatory and just in their ac- 
tion toward the men, and the men gave a higher respect 
and more cheerful obedience to their officers. Still, the 
old boy has not carried all the " old discipline" overboard 
with him, as we have seen, in the unnecessarily restricted 
right of visiting the shore. 

At the time we left the IJnited States, the supply- of 
midshipmen had been exhausted, and neither the San 
Jacinto, Portsmouth, nor Levant had any, and the men 
were necessarily trusted to themselves in the boats, with-, 
out any one to watch, to irritate and annoy them. The 
results were so favorable that it excited comment and re- 



544 , INCHINA. 

mark among our English associates, and believing it to 
be a system of our service, they expressed a wish that it 
could be adopted in theirs. 

At length came the 29th of January, 1858, and with it 
ended my relations with the San Jacinto and China. The 
fine steamer Ottawa, surrounded by boats, and pouring 
a volume of smoke from her pipe, was ready for her de- 
parture on the homeward trip at 2 p.m. At 11 a. m. 
the broad pennant of Commodore Armstrong came down 
with a parting salute, and when he took his departure, 
the ships manned their yards and cheered their late com- 
mander-in-chief 

As I stepped on board the Ottawa, there was a wel- 
come of home in the very name. It spoke of my past 
wanderings around our great lakes. There it would have 
been in keeping, but what had our western, Indian, sono- 
rous-sounding names to do with these Asiatic cruisings ? 
The boat, like myself, was a Fankwei, a wanderer from the 
waters of the St. Lawrence. It seemed almost at once 
to transport me to the great interests of our new world, 
and the grand social and political problems there being 
worked out, dwarfng our man-of-war existence and in- 
terests, and reducing our stormy contests to tempests in 
tea-pots. One wonders that he has ever permitted squab- 
bles and heart-burnings about class privileges, artificial 
distinctions and rival decorations, which have no relation 
to the noble institutions of his country, and only a ship- 
board importance, to lessen his true manliness, and make 
him almost false to the nobility of his American citizen- 
ship, and he sees then, with respect and esteem, the wor- 
thy, noble and good qualities of associates which may 
have been obscured in a mist of artificial and official re- 
lationship. 

It may, perhaps, be well that we have so few incentives 
to " getting on" in the ways of war so many inducements 



GETTING ON. 545 

to remember with pride that we are citizens of a country 
whose grandest influences are found in the ways of peace 
and humanity, and to which we return and chng with 
strengthened afiection. 

With the saihng of the Ottawa ended my career as a 



FANKWEI 



9^ 



